A powerful hailstorm has hit the eastern part of the Australian state of Queensland. The cities of Rockhampton, Yeppoon and other communities in the region were pummelled by the hail, which was as large as 8-10 cm in diameter. As a result, houses and cars were damaged.
According to some residents, the hailstones were as big as chicken eggs or larger.
Local residents shared photos and videos of the unusual phenomenon in social networks.
Rockhampton has been smashed by hail the size of golf balls. Lasted about 10 minutes.. but that’s more than enough time to rack up a costly damage bill. It was sunny an hour ago @7NewsBrisbane @7NewsCQ pic.twitter.com/wP1RdxK3rz
— Isla Stanich (@IslaStanich) April 19, 2020
Australia's Emergency Situations Service have reportedly received around 1,500 calls from the citizens since Sunday.
Hail storm hits central Queensland https://t.co/56vG46VgZ4 pic.twitter.com/Ez8cUjMmZU
— Allan Manning (@AllanManning) April 20, 2020
Central Queensland residents are cleaning up the damage caused by a large hail storm that hit the region yesterday afternoon. More than 55ml of rain was recorded in Rockhampton with hail the size of tennis balls falling at Yeppoon. https://t.co/nfYUsmJrvM #qldweather #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/hLZgoB20EC
— 7NEWS Central Queensland (@7NewsCQ) April 20, 2020
In mid-October last year, large-scale wildfire on the east coast of Australia, which killed 26 people and destroyed more than 8.5 million hectares of forest.