Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last Thursday a ferocious storm cell ripped through parts of Wide Bay destroying crops; injuring people, stock and wildlife; damaging buildings; uprooting trees; smashing cars; and blocking roads. The storm, with hail the size of golf balls propelled horizontally by cyclonic force winds, wreaked havoc on communities throughout the South Burnett, Gympie, Maryborough and the Fraser Coast. Repetitive lightning strikes knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses across the region. Many people were terrified by the wind, hail and lightning in this storm.

From drought to bushfires to storms Wide Bay is copping its fair share of Mother Nature's fury, as it has since time began. As always, our emergency service personnel and volunteers were there to save property, protect lives and get people back on their feet. I commend them for their efforts and I praise the work of the Bureau of Meteorology and everyone involved in disaster management who helped get the phone calls and SMS messages out to alert people to the approaching storm so that they could take preventative action. This was a dramatic start to the storm season. It reminds us all of the need to have a storm plan so we can be prepared to protect our families, property and community.

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