The army has been mobilised to aid the huge clean-up task after one of Australia's worst supercell storms battered Brisbane and other parts of southeast Queensland.
Brisbane bore the brunt of the storm's ferocity, with the insurance industry declaring it a catastrophic event that will leave a multimillion dollar damage bill.
Hundreds of SES volunteers have joined the clean up effort, and troops from Brisbane's Enoggera army barracks have also been called to help deal with the scale of the damage.
Premier Campbell Newman tells residents to be prepared for more
There are still 65,000 homes and businesses without power, after cyclonic winds in excess of 140km/h downed power lines, toppled huge gum trees, tore parts of roofs from properties, and destroyed and warped street signs and traffic lights.
The wind speeds were similar to those produced by Category 2 cyclones, which typically gust between 125km/h and 164km/h.
Hail the size of golf balls - and some witnesses say cricket balls in some parts of the city - severely damaged vehicles, windows and roofs.
Clearing roads is the priority task for SES volunteers on Friday.
One of the worst supercell storms Australia has seen
The Bureau of Meteorology said the storm, which hit Brisbane about 4pm on Thursday, was an extreme event and one of the worst supercell storms Australia had seen.
In addition to the hail and ferocious winds, it also dumped close to a month's worth of rain on some parts of the city in a very short period of time.
"We had 72mm of rainfall at Archerfield, over 60mm of that fell in about 20 minutes. Just to put that in context, the average rainfall out there is 78mm for the month of November," the bureau's weather services manager Richard Wardle told AAP.
"So pretty much the entire months' rainfall in about half an hour."
He said wind speeds were also extraordinary.
"We recorded wind gusts in excess of 140km/h at Archerfield where we've seen aeroplanes and helicopters overturned on the runway.
"Those sorts of wind gusts are the same strength as those experienced in a category two tropical cyclone, albeit they were felt in a much smaller area than what you would get in a cyclone wall."
Premier Campbell Newman said the city had taken a big hit, but authorities were doing their best to clean up and restore services, particularly power after 500 lines were downed.
He urged people to check on their neighbours, particularly the elderly.
"Please reach out to one another and help one another," he told ABC radio.
Mr Newman said about 20 schools would be closed on Friday due to damage, and he urged parents to check the Education Department's website for a full list.
He said the State Library at South Bank had also been damaged and would remain closed on Friday.
The SES has had 1300 calls for help, mostly for roof damage and windows shattered by the large hail.
