Girl fighting for life after being struck by lightning in Queensland
A young girl is fighting for life after she and a man were struck by lightning on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast as wild storms lashed the state’s south-east.
The 10-year-old was struck outside her home at Beerwah, 85 kilometres north of Brisbane, around 2.30pm yesterday during a fierce electrical storm that wreaked havoc across the state.
A man in his 60s was also struck by lightning on the Gold Coast and is in a stable condition in hospital.
South-east Queensland suffered through fierce electrical storms overnight, with 300,000 lightning strikes recorded to hit the area.
Witnesses told 9News they heard a loud clap of thunder moments before emergency crews flooded Clarke’s Road at Beerwah in an attempt to save the 10-year-old.
The girl, who in a critical condition, has been transferred to the Queensland Children’s Hospital, where she continues to fight for life.
Further south at Biggera Waters, on the Gold Coast, a man who was also struck by lightning is recovering in hospital.
The man, in his 60s, was earlier in a critical condition but is now stable.
Emergency services said the man was alert and speaking when they arrived.
Meanwhile, thousands of Queenslanders woke to no power this morning after the storms brought down powerlines and pelted parts of the south-east with golf-ball-sized hail.
The hail, some sized 4cm wide, battered a number of areas, with Beadesert, south of Brisbane, the hardest hit.
The severe weather brought down powerlines, affecting about 4000 homes across the south-east, according to energy provider Energex.
Clean-up crews have been sent in to clear fallen trees, powerlines and building damage.
In Moorooka, the storm caused pieces of roofing to be stripped from homes and timber ripped from buildings.
Further north, emergency services have issued major flood warnings for Far North Queensland after recent heavy rainfall.
Residents in Wonga Beach, north of Cairns, have been told to find higher ground and warned that conditions may change quickly.
Earlier, the system unleashed about six minutes of fury suburb-by-suburb on Brisbane’s south side.
The weather system sent caravans sliding and flipped a B-Double truck.
Some of the worst-affected areas include Doonan and Yandina on the northern Sunshine Coast hinterland.
At Amberley, south-west of Brisbane, 90km/h wind gusts were recorded.
But residents said the effects of the storm were not as severe as what was experienced last night.
“It just really started to rain, the wind went crazy,” Wilson Timbers general manager Caleb Woolridge said.
