Grain grower Peter Waddell, Nyerin, Formatin, said the storm had left a very distinct path of destruction. 

Mr Waddell said hail had destroyed the sorghum and heavy wind had brought down up to 13 power poles in the area. This is the third hail storm to the Waddells have experienced this season and by far the most severe.

“It skirted the western side of our country so thankfully we didn’t get a direct hit but it’s made a mess nonetheless,” he said.

“I’d estimate 50 or 60 hectares were completely destroyed but it’s too wet to get a good look at the moment. 

“I don’t think we will have power back for days looking at the damage.”

Kildonan, near Goondiwindi, received 65mm of rain in the past 24 hours, while Dalby received 38mm.

Hail damage has been reported at Bowenville, Formatin and The Summit on social media.

Bureau of Meteorology forecasters confirmed they had reports of two-centimetre hail.

“There was an abundance of hail that moved through Stanthorpe and the Border Ranges, with hail drifts of up to 10 centimetres reported,” they said.

“The strongest recorded wind was at Applethorpe at 78 kilometres per hour, however based on what we have seen there were winds well in excess of 90 kilometres per hour.

“Another storm cell started to develop around Goondiwindi at about 3.30pm and it tracked to the north west towards Dalby later in the evening.”

Close to 8000 homes were without power overnight around Dalby and Surat, with crews still working to restore power to 1400 customers.

Ergon Energy corporate communications manager Rod Rehbein said there was terrible damage throughout the area and in one instance, 16 poles were down and all needed to be replaced.

“This means about 7000 customers usually supplied from the Dalby East substation spent the night without power, along with about 900 other customers on a variety of feeders throughout the wider region impacted by the storm,” he said.

“All available crews will head to the region this morning to assist with the restoration of power.

“Crews have already identified 47 poles that were damaged during the storm in the area from Dalby to Oakey, south to Cecil Plains and Millmerran and chopper patrols this morning will identify the full extent of the damage.”

Queensland Country Life