Australia Weather News

A Queensland small business owner hospitalised with concussion after she "copped hailstones to the back of the head" at a community market has described the experience as "terrifying".

Terri-Ann Barnett was selling her goods at a school fair at Esk, in the Somerset region, on Saturday afternoon when a severe storm swept through earlier than organisers expected.

"The hailstones were big enough that they tore through all of the canopies, smashed all the cars and flipped tables," she said. "A lot of us were getting pummelled by the stones.

"It shocked us. It was terrifying. We've not experienced anything like that before."

Ms Barnett was taken to Ipswich Hospital where she was assessed before being sent home to rest.

"I copped a couple of nice stones to the back of the head," she said. "[I'm] dealing with the aftermath of a severe concussion.

"It could have been a lot worse and there were others that got injured as well, but we were all taken care of very well by the volunteers there."

Ms Barnett, who started her business selling hair accessories and handbags just nine months ago, said her market set-up had been destroyed as well as half of her stock. 

But she said she considered herself lucky with some stallholders losing everything.

"It is a little bit heartbreaking, we were just starting to gain a little bit of momentum," she said.

"It might take us a little bit longer to get back to markets, unfortunately, with all of our set up gone."

House 'shaking' as 'chunks' of hail fell

South-east Queensland was lashed by hail again on Sunday.

Khia Chagas said the sun was still shining when "big chunks" fell at her place at Googa Creek, south of Blackbutt, where 8-centimetre hail was reported.

"The hail was just getting bigger and bigger and before we knew it it was like big chunks falling," she said.

"We've had bits and pieces of hail out our way before but nothing that size."

She said her "whole house was shaking" as the hail continued to fall for about 20 minutes.

"We got three lots of hail in the space of probably an hour," she said.

The hail has damaged solar panels, left dints in the family's car and left one of their horses with a cut on its nose.

Like many in the south-east, the next step for Ms Chagas is to contact her insurer. 

According to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) 2,550 claims have been made as a result of the storms from Friday through to Sunday.

An ICA spokesperson said the areas most impacted included Clifton, Pratten and Esk.

They said damage to solar panels was typically covered under most insurance policies, but encouraged policyholders to check their Product Disclosure Statement and speak directly with their insurer.

"While the damage from the weekend's storms may appear smaller in comparison to other historic hailstorms, insurers acknowledge that extreme weather events of this nature can have devastating impacts for local communities," an ICA spokesperson said.

"Insurers have begun prioritising claims and are committed to supporting policyholders recover."