Bloodied festival-goers, spooked racehorses, smashed windows and cars and heavy rain inside buildings were some of the surreal scenes unfolding across Melbourne, in one of the most intense storms in years.
And further north, Queenslanders are battling a once-in-a-century flood.
Yesterday's storm in Melbourne was freakish. It was sunny one moment, then suddenly hailstones as big as golf balls fell from the sky at alarming speed. A lot people weren't quick enough to get out of the way and were badly bruised and bloodied.
Melbourne's main streets became raging torrents, as the city was drenched by nearly 30mm of rain in less than 60 minutes.
The pounding of giant hailstones cracked like gunfire. The thunderstorm rolled in late in the afternoon, the mini-cyclone fanned by winds of over 100km/h an hour.
A bizarre wave of ice poured into tunnels, stranding cars in its stream.
Drivers elsewhere were forced to push their cars through the deluge, around a 1m deep, as pedestrians partied.
A roof collapsed at Etihad stadium under the weight of the hail. The treacherous conditions forced the cancellation of an AFL match.
Horse races were called off for the first time at Flemington, when the racecourse flooded. As the lawns turned white, punters panicked.
Hundreds of new cars at a local dealership were pummelled by huge chunks of ice, AU$8 million in stock written off by the weather just before the grand opening.
"I guess now that'll have to change a little bit, and we'll have some sort of a hail sale," says dealer Gavin Werner.
Emergency crews were called out to more than 3000 jobs, mostly damaged roofs.
"Just seeing all the trees down and branches across the road, powerlines down, it's really horrific here and quite amazing actually," says Ian Sutherland, State Emergeny Service.
It was just as horrific up north. Queensland's southwest was transformed into an inland sea as record flooding took its toll.
"This is the record flood people will talk about in the future," says Balonne Shire mayor Donna Stewart. "We are slowly, slowly getting there."
It has been described as a once-in-a-century flood, with water peaking overnight at a record 13.5m. The rain hit the entire region hard and fast. Within hours, towns and communities were inundated. Main highways and bridges disappeared under water, making access in and out near impossible.
The freak storm in Melbourne and the flooding in Queensland are actually related. There was a tropical low over western Queensland, and moisture from that system was carried all the way south to Victoria on Friday, some 1700km away. That warm moisture then clashed with cold air that came up from the south.
It was a dynamic situation, basically the ideal conditions for a severe thunderstorm. And the bad news is for Melbourne, conditions tonight aren't expected to get any better soon.
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