Brisbane was in clean-up mode yesterday after a supercell storm injured 39 people, cut power to 100,000 homes and caused damage likely to reach $250 million.

Broken or falling glass and loose asbestos were big health hazards as a city-wide operation continued to clear debris and repair damage.

Brougham St resident Gavin Jacobi told Brisbanetimes.com that despite a report to council, the asbestos was still on the street and he was concerned it would become a hazard as it dries out. 

“There’s so much traffic here, you can actually hear the crunching of it breaking up.” 

Brisbane mayor Graham Quirk said asbestos was one of many issues council workers needed to address after the storm lashed Brisbane with cyclonic winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall on Thursday.

“If people see asbestos on the ground, if they could please get their hose out and water that asbestos and water it regularly,” Quirk said. 

Some CBD streets were closed off as the safety of damaged highrise windows was assessed. 

Power company Energex said about 2800 residents were without power yesterday. More than 100,000 customers had their power restored.

Thirty-nine people were injured in the storm, with 12 taken to hospital, but authorities said none were seriously injured.

– NZ Herald/AAP