South-east Queensland storms declared 'insurance catastrophe'

Tuesday, 25 November 2025 17:24

Hail the size of cricket balls has battered south-east Queensland.

Severe storms that battered south-east Queensland ripping roofs off homes, tipping cars and dumping cricket-ball-sized hail have been declared an insurance catastrophe.

The Insurance Council of Australia said 16,000 claims had already been lodged across 140 postcodes.

The extent of the damage bill is still yet to be determined.

"While it's too early to estimate the insurance damage bill, we expect to see claims numbers continue to rise over the coming days as power returns to homes," ICA Deputy CEO Kylie Macfarlane said.

She encouraged policy-holders to get their claims in as soon as possible and not risk undertaking any risky clean-up or repairs themselves.

The catastrophe declaration means claims brought about by the storms will be prioritised.

Almost 75,000 homes and businesses remain without power this afternoon.

More than 45,000 of these are in the Moreton Bay region which includes Bribie Island where some of the worst damage was inflicted.

Another 14,000 are on the Sunshine Coast.

Energex has urged people to take care in clearing debris, as it could be covering fallen powerlines.

"The restoration of power is likely to continue late into Wednesday in some areas, due to the extent of the damage and difficult access," a statement said.

The parade of destructive storms formed in the Gold Coast hinterland early yesterday afternoon and rolled north.

Helicopter footage showed the roof peeled off one home, leaving the kitchen exposed to the elements and a resident on the destroyed back patio, shocked by the damage.

The storm only lasted a few minutes but there was widespread damage in other parts of the region too.

A roof peeled off a service station and flew into power lines in Beaudesert and hail, some as big as cricket balls, belted backyards from Cornubia, south of Brisbane, to Maleny, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Manly, Ferny Hills and Alexandra Hills all copped 11-centimetre hail, with 14-centimetre hailstones recorded in Chandler.

In Loganlea, a carport crashed down, taking power lines with it and forcing two people inside to evacuate through a neighbouring fence.

A big clean-up job was already underway yesterday afternoon after the State Emergency Service received more than 1000 callouts by 6pm, mostly in Brisbane, Redlands and Logan.

Severe thunderstorm warnings for several regions were cancelled later last night.

The severe weather came the day after the area south of Brisbane was thrashed by hail as big as golf balls on Sunday night, caused by a supercell that roared across the Scenic Rim and Logan, Weatherzone said.

Storms are forecast for the rest of the week.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.