Stonehenge among towns damaged in outback storm
By Elise Worthington, ABCUpdated January 15, 2013, 9:45 pm
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Authorities says a wild storm has damaged around 80 per cent of buildings in the central-western Queensland town of Jundah.
The storm also tore through the nearby town of Stonehenge, damaging the pub and downing powerlines.
The storm hit Jundah, south of Longreach, around 2:00pm, packing strong winds, lightning and rain.
It badly damaged about 20 homes, the local school and a local business and roofs were ripped off several other buildings.
Two semi-trailers and a water truck were overturned, along with a vehicle towing a caravan.
Monique Rayment from the Jundah Hotel says the damage is significant but locals are taking it in their stride.
“When I walked around the corner half my Poinciana tree is sitting in the public toilet, so I’ve got a loo with a view,” she said.
Local SES crews are now helping with the clean-up but emergency services say there are trees down across the area.
The Barcoo Shire Council is estimating the damage bill will run into the millions of dollars.
Council CEO Bob O’Brien says council staff saw two tornadoes hit the town.
“The school is just quite amazing to see. It’s like tin wrapped around trees, like Cyclone Yasi really,” he said.
About an hour after it tore through Jundah, the storm hit Stonehenge.
Senior forecaster Rick Threlfall says it is now dumping rain on Longreach.
“Through the rest of this evening and into the night we could see some further damaging winds from those storms,” he said.