A quick-thinking martial arts instructor shielded a student from a roof collapsing as a violent weather system lashed parts of south-east Queensland.
Moreton Bay, Morayfield and parts of the Gold Coast saw heavy rain, winds and hail overnight which has left buildings damaged, streets flooded and a blanket of ice over some areas.
At the Red Dragon Martial Arts School in Morayfield, the ceiling began to cave in.
Instructor Arryn Cox quickly ran to protect one of his young students by shielding her with his body.
“The tiles started coming down on her,” he said.
“I was able to get to her just in time and I just had to shield her.”
According to the school, the clean-up and repair costs are looking to range between $1000 to $50,000.
At the nearby Woolworths, the roof burst and let in torrential rain over the checkout area.
Eureka Furniture’s entrance crumbled and scattered debris across the home displays while an AMX Superstores flooded.
“We’ve never seen anything like that around here before. We’ve seen plenty of heavy storm activity before but the ice I think was the contributing factor,” AMX Superstores’ Steve Douglas said.
While only four millimetres of rain fell on Morayfield overnight, Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast were blanketed by pellets of ice and rain.
The Gold Coast, which had more than 170 millimetres of rainfall, also saw flash flooding.
The local Fitness Cartel saw its car park resemble ice fields.
“We did have a few people in the bottom car park that did get snowed in, so we did have to wrestle and dig ourselves out,” Fitness Cartel’s Bek Crook said.
The scenes were extraordinary for south-east Queensland, where day-old ice still had not melted.
The SES received 90 callouts while 16,500 properties experienced power outages.
The Bureau of Meteorology was criticised by Moreton Bay Council and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate for failing to warn residents of the impending deluge.
“Last year all over again. The BoM gives you the alert that it’s going to rain, you’re already soaked,” Tate said.
Bureau meteorologist Steve Hadley said severe storms could arise and move rapidly.
He said it’s why “we target information in the lead up to suspected severe thunderstorm outbreaks”.
