Police make emergency declaration after partial crane collapse on the Gold Coast on Christmas Day
Police made an emergency declaration after a storm caused a partial crane collapse on the Gold Coast on Christmas Day afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the Gold Coast Highway at Southport at 3:15pm on Thursday following reports of a crane and multiple powerlines being damaged in the area.
The Queensland Ambulance Service said no-one was believed to have been injured as a result of the incident.
An exclusion zone was put in place on Thursday afternoon. (ABC News)
Queensland Police made an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act before 4pm.
Members of the public were asked to avoid the area, and those within the exclusion zone – which spans the Gold Coast Highway, North Street, Loders Creek and the Broadwater – were asked to remain indoors.
Emergency services remained on the scene into Thursday evening and were working to make the area safe.
The area was hit by a storm in the afternoon, with wind gusts of 45 knots per hour, which is more than 80 km/h recorded at the Gold Coast Seaway, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Aerial footage shows upturned gazebos and minor damage at the neighbouring caravan park, which was evacuated by emergency services, along with a nearby building.
Aerial vision shows minor damage at the neighbouring caravan park. (ABC News)
Labrador resident Liz Freeman described the storm as "intense and scary", although she said it was quick-moving and only lasted about 10 minutes.
Ms Freeman said the windows of her 12th-floor apartment were shaking as much as they had been during ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Liz Freeman described the storm that hit Southport on Christmas Day afternoon as "very quick but massive". (Supplied: Liz Freeman)
"Our heavy balcony furniture was being thrown around like it was paper, and our very heavy table was picked up by the wind and almost went over the railing," she said.
Thousands without power
Energex said "small but intense" storm cells on Christmas Day took out power to thousands of homes and businesses in Brisbane, Somerset and the Gold Coast.
At 6:30pm, about 7,000 customers were without power across south-east Queensland.
The energy provider said it had received reports of about 15 power lines down in the Southport area, as well as other property damage.
Crews would commence restoration works when it was safe to do so, Energex said.
Emergency services are on the scene of what appears to have been a partial crane collapse. (Supplied: Queensland Ambulance Service)
The BOM issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of south-east Queensland at 4:30pm on Christmas Day.
Damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall were possible for parts of Brisbane, the Redlands, the Sunshine Coast and the South Burnett, BOM said.
Additional warnings were issued at 6pm as those storms continued to move north towards Gympie and the state's central coast – where the BOM was warning of the potential for intense rainfall.