(ETH) – The largest hail storm in a decade has just left a trail of destruction in parts of Queensland after a destructive thunderstorm reportedly ripped through the state. According to the Daily Mail, Wind gusts of more than 100km/h were recorded in the region of Rockhampton, which was the worst-hit area, as well as 180,000 lightning strikes recorded.
‘The spread of the storm itself was quite isolated and very focused, unfortunately, it ran straight through the suburbs of Rockhampton,’ she told the ABC. More than 40 calls came in from Rockhampton and Yeppoon alone as the tennis ball-sized hail damaged homes and cars across the region of Queensland. Some of the hail was reportedly eight centimeters in diameter.
The hail was so large that Queensland SES president Eddie Cowie stated that they were the largest he had seen in a decade. ‘This particular storm, we had tennis ball-sized hail coming down, so it’s been many years since I’ve seen that sized hail,’ he said. Rockhampton local Garrett Wells reported huge hailstones that plummeted to the ground at his home at Berserker on Sunday. ‘There were softball-sized chunks of ice bouncing off the road,’ he told AAP on Monday.
