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CCTV footage of the seconds before a good Samaritan was electrocuted has highlighted the often invisible dangers of fallen powerlines brought down in storms.
The 30-year-old man was driving in Murrarie in Brisbane’s east on Friday evening as a ferocious storm ripped through the city bringing heavy rain, hail and gale force winds reaching above 160km/h.
The driver had stopped on the side of the road and then got out of his car to remove a large tree branch blown down onto the road – so other cars would not hit it – but did not know it had also knocked down live powerlines with it.
The CCTV is from a nearby business that happened to be pointed towards the road.
Another nearby business had complained the trees overhanging the electricity lines had been a risk for years.
‘(The trees) don’t have a lot of good roots and there’s a lot of debris always falling through here,’ the business owner told The Courier Mail.
‘Whenever the wind picks up there are branches that fall down (and) a lot of these branches are hollow.’
The driver had stopped to remove a tree branch from the road but it had brought electrical lines down with it
Emergency crews were called to Murarrie Road just after 5pm to reports an unconscious man was found near fallen electricity lines.
Police said that when they arrived at the scene the 30-year-old Murarrie man was located with life-threatening injuries and he died shortly after.
Street electricity lines carry upwards of 1000 volts and are usually bare wire without insulation, making them extremely dangerous if knocked down.
New Queensland Premier Steven Miles said it was ‘tragic’ and sent his condolences to the family of the man.
‘I do want to send my thanks to all of the SES and first responders who were out helping during the storm last night, they make a massive difference every time they pull on those uniforms and we are grateful to them,’ he added.
Energex also released a statement saying: ‘We will now leave the police and authorities to investigate exactly what has occurred here and we will assist their investigation fully where required’.
‘Any incident like this is tragic, and being so close to Christmas makes it even more so,’ they said.
‘Our sincerest condolences go out to the family and everyone involved in this terrible incident.’
The CCTV footage shows the man drive along the street then stop and get out of his car to remove a tree branch from the road
Bureau meteorologist Shane Kennedy said Friday’s destructive winds came out of left field.
‘The Bureau had flagged the system as a potential thunderstorm but we definitely didn’t expect for it to create this much destruction,’ he said.
‘A category 3 tropical cyclone must reach 165km/h winds and the winds out in Archerfield hit 169km/h so we have passed that threshold.
‘It is definitely stronger than normal, it is quite a vicious storm.’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk