Nature’s fury: Six times the Sunshine Coast copped it
THE clean-up is getting underway for homes in Mooloolaba battered by Mother Nature overnight.
Roofs were lifted from homes, power poles lifted out of the ground and cars smashed as a wild weather system touched down and wreaked havoc.
As residents count the cost in the aftermath we look back at other times the Coast was belted by the weather gods.
March 6, 2012:
Residents on the Coast were absolutely hammered in March of 2012.
The month started off with huge rainfall to the north, with Lake Cooroibah and Noosaville drenched.
A man drowned near Gympie and more than 50 roads were closed as emergency shelters throughout the Coast were on standby.
Parts of the region were doused with 350mm of rain in 12 hours, while 100kmh winds followed the slow-moving low pressure system.
It came not long after heavy falls in Cooroy and Pomona in late February.
March 22, 2012:
Barely a fortnight after the Coast was battered and once again we were dealing with a monster deluge.
Who can forget the intense flash flooding that struck late on the afternoon of March 22, 2012?
University access roads went under, children were rescued from childcare centres and shops along Alexandra Pde had more than 40cm of water swept through them as falls of almost 400mm fell in a matter of hours.
The intensity of the system was in excess of one-in-100-year levels and the SES received more than 600 calls for help after the storms hit at about 4pm.
Hundreds of homes in Mooloolaba - where more than 300mm fell in just three hours - were inundated.
December 2010:
A deluge in the festive period in 2010 had long-lasting impacts for a number of Buderim residents.
Two homes in Durham Crescent, North Buderim began sliding down the hill as a result of the torrential rain while another home in Sam White Dr also experienced land slippage.
Homeowners Peter and Becky Francis and John and Susan Miller were left to pick up the pieces, battling insurance issues as a result.
February 21, 2015:
Mooloolaba residents once again felt Mother Nature's fury, this time in the shape of a bizarre but powerfully destructive waterspout.
Residents described a "mini-cyclone" tearing through suburban streets, uprooting trees, flipping catamarans but luckily, avoiding major structural damage to homes and local schools.
Canal-front homes were left to clean up after huge trees were felled by the powerful system.
May 1, 2015:
Tragedy struck five times in a chaotic 24 hours to start May last year.
Five people were killed as cars were swept from roads in Caboolture during yet another massive weather event.
King John Creek at Caboolture claimed the life of four people as two cars were swept off Beerburrum Rd.
Among them, a 49-year-old driver. He died but his two children managed to escape and survived.
Emergency searches were undertaken in Beerwah as children were feared missing while thousands of commuters were left stranded as rail services were put out of action.
Bruce Hwy commuters were left stuck, helpless, hoping the flood waters would not continue to rise.
Swiftwater rescue teams saved almost 60 people in what was a devastatingly powerful downpour.
January 28, 2013:
It was fluffy but far from clean.
Waves of sea foam covered Alexandra Headland, churned up from recent storm activity, which sent mountains of foam across Alexandra Pde, up to the second storey of apartments.
The bizarre scenes were the source of entertainment for hundreds of locals.
