The power won’t come back on for the areas hardest hit in Monday’s severe thunderstorms until tomorrow.
As at 6.30am Thursday, about 15,600 Energex customers are without supply.
Current Energex customer outages are Moreton Bay 9,300, Noosa 2,800, Sunshine Coast 2,200 and Gympie Regional Council area 300.
Energex and Ergon hope to have the majority of power restored by tonight but the worst affected areas, on the Sunshine Coast and Bribie Island, will stretch into Friday before the lights come back on.
The power supply companies had to get field crews to pause their repair work for about three hours overnight while more severe storms passed through.
Energex has recorded about 1.6 million lightning strikes across the south-east during all the storm activity from Sunday afternoon to early Thursday morning.
About 90% of the total outages from Monday’s storms have been restored from a peak of 162,000 outages.
Energex said winds of 170 kilometres per hour were recorded at Bribie Island on Monday night, which is akin to a category three cyclone.
150km/h winds were recorded at Coolum on Monday night.
Meanwhile, the owners of the Sandstone Point Hotel and Holiday Resort near Bribie Island are counting the cost of Monday’s storm.
Director of Comiskey Group, Robert Comiskey, said the storm caused an estimated $500,000 damage at the resort and hotel.
He said massive trees were uprooted destroying three luxury glamping tents and damaging 35 villas.
The businesses are still operating but the cleanup and repairs are being hampered by the power outage and telecommunications problems.
Telstra said more than 95% of affected mobile services are now back up and running with power outages being blamed for the .
Telstra Regional General Manager, May Boisen, said a number of sites in the Sunshine Coast region were restored yesterday, including Bli Bli, Beerwah and Cambron, as well as Coolum and Peregian overnight.
She said the widespread power outages are behind the disruption.
“Our backup power systems kept many services online for as long as possible, but our network sites can use the same amount of power as ten homes every day, so disruptions will occur if power’s out for a long time in your area.
“We’re working closely with authorities to get in and restore the remaining affected services ASAP, when it’s safe to do so,” Ms Boisen said.
And no power is a nightmare for people living in rural areas who rely on tank water.
Unless they have generators they can’t pump water to their homes for showers, toilets or drinking.
Noosa Council has a list of options for people requiring help, including showers, on its Facebook page.
Meanwhile, Sunshine Coast Health is urging people to take care during the current hot weather, especially anyone who doesn’t have power.
Emergency Department Doctor Dan Bitmead said a couple of people have presented to hospital suffering from heat related illness.
And Sunshine Coast Council is still offering free disposal of green waste at its refuse centres until Sunday afternoon
Check Council’s Disaster Hub online for more details.
The weather bureau is warning of the possibility of more severe storms today.
