Concert chaos as wild storm erupts

A Brisbane concert was thrown into chaos after a wild storm erupted, forcing thousands of concertgoers to evacuate the venue and take shelter in an underground carpark.

Canadian singer Tate McRae was due to perform at the outdoor entertainment venue Riverstage in Brisbane’s CBD on Sunday evening when revellers were told they would have to evacuate about 7pm.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning cautioning residents of heavy rain, damaging winds and hail expected to hit the city on Sunday night.

@zanetaprell

Its NOT okay, Im NOT okay ❌📸 #foryou #tatemcrae #brisbane #australia #cancelled #sad #rain #fyp

♬ greedy sped up – Tate McRae

People were allowed back into the venue one the storm passed, with the concert resuming about 8.30pm, but some punters were left disappointed after being told the concert had been cancelled.

Sunshine Coast resident Peta Trigg shared on social media that she was halfway home when they were informed the concert was back on.

Ms Trigg said security “screamed” at her and a friend to leave the venue because the show had been cancelled.

“This was handled so badly. Surely we get refunds,” she said.

Other concertgoers said they were “heartbroken” after paying a premium for tickets only to lose their spot when people were allowed back inside the venue.

Courtney shared on social media that she had lined up for more than 24 hours and paid for a VIP ticket, but during a stampede to get back inside the venue, people with general admission tickets were allowed inside the VIP area.

Emergency services were also called out to assist with cars that were trapped in floodwater in Beenleigh in Brisbane’s south.

Drivers managed to escape after two cars were caught in floodwater near the corner of City Road and George Street about 8.40pm.

Another car was also stuck in floodwater at Knapp Creek about 100kms southeast of the city shortly before 7pm.

More wild weather is predicted for the sunshine state, with parts of Central Australia expected to be hit with showers and thunderstorms, as well as the possibility of daily thunderstorms in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales.

BOM senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury told Today there would be a concentration of showers and thunderstorm through central parts of Australia, impacting South Australia and southern parts of the Northern Territory.

Ms Bradbury said southeast Queensland and northeast NSW would see an almost daily thunderstorm risk which could bring heavy rainfall, flash flooding, large hail and damaging winds.

She said in recent days, heatwave conditions had been contracting away from southern Queensland and would be less extensive than it was over the weekend.

“Even where we don’t have those heatwave warnings, we’re continuing to see very hot weather across the northern parts of Australia, with temperatures 2 to 5 degrees above average,” she said.

“For many areas, particularly inland, (this) equates to temperatures in the high 30s at least, if not the low to mid 40s.”

Heatwave warnings have been issued for northern parts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland with extreme to severe conditions expected to last until Wednesday.