It came with plenty of warning, but the sheer ferocity of Thursday's storm caught most of Brisbane by surprise.
The storm, which had been forecast earlier in the day, rolled into the heart of Brisbane about 4.30pm.
Redland City appears to have avoided any major damage from the storm that lashed the Brisbane area late on Thursday afternoon.
At 6am, Friday 1200 homes and businesses in the Redland Bay area were without power due to the severe weather.
Rainfall in the Redlands was low for the day with up 5mm being recorded across the city during the day. Winds gusted to 30-35 km/h compared with recorded wind gusts in Brisbane of 80 km/h between 4.30 pm and 5pm.
In Brisbane the blanket of rain – cut visibility to about 10 metres at times – and large hailstones.
"Police would also like to remind motorists to drive to conditions and to be aware that there may be fallen powerlines, trees and other debris across roadways."
More than 88,000 customers were still without power at 7pm, according to Energex.
At the height of the storm, the rain was virtually horizontal – no wonder given the strength of the wind.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded wind gusts of 141km/h at Archerfield, 83km/h in the CBD and 76km/h at Amberley.
As of 6.30pm, the State Emergency Service had received about 700 requests for assistance.
"Residents are reminded that SES volunteers cannot always assist immediately," Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said in a statement.
"Where safe to do so, residents are urged to try and help themselves before calling 132 500 so our volunteers can assist the most vulnerable members of the community.
"Residents are also reminded that flood waters can be extremely dangerous. The message is simple: If it's flooded, forget it."
The wind ripped the roof of All Hallows' – Brisbane's oldest existing secondary school – in Fortitude Valley, bringing a premature end to the school year.
School's out for summer, school principal Le-Anne Perry said in an email sent to parents and students.
"The school has been badly damaged by the storm and it is unsafe for our community to be here," she said.
"Staff and Students should not attend School this Friday 28 November."
At Archerfield Airport, the site of those 141km/h winds, light planes were flipped on to their upside-down.
"A number of doors were blown off hangars, with one door landing 150m away," airport general manager Corrie Metz said.
"Communications to the air traffic control tower were also affected."
Mr Metz said the airport's operations would be affected for hours while debris was cleared.
A spokesman for RACQ Careflight Rescue said "hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of damage" was inflicted on its operations in just a few minutes.
"CareFlight engineering and maintenance crews have begun assessing damage to two aircraft at the west Brisbane base, the extent of which is currently unknown," he said.
"The hangar itself also sustained significant damage.
"Golf ball-sized hail and driving rail caused significant damage to the hangar roof, walls, windows and doors; gale-force rain threw corrugated iron sheeting into the air.
"Fortunately, aircrew and staff members were able to keep safe for the storm's duration."
Land-based travel was also affected. The Fortitude Valley train station was flooded and all city train services were suspended.
"We are currently arranging for buses to replace trains, however are experiencing some delays due to the road network also having been affected," Queensland Rail said about 6.30pm.
"Customers should expect significant delays.
"We have reports of trees having fallen on overhead power lines and flash flooding the CBD."
The commute of Brisbane's workers was severely disrupted by Thursday's storm, meaning its true impact may not be fully known until sunrise Friday.
- Additional reporting Redland City Bulletin
