Jenny Underwood told the North Queensland Register that the storm hit Eversleigh just after 6pm and was finished 20 minutes later.

In that short time span, it caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage which included ripping an air-conditioning unit off the roof and depositing it in a big fig tree.

"Well, it used to be a big tree behind the house," Jenny said, and the accompanying photo shows what a severe pruning job the storm did.

"Because the roof had been damaged, we ended up with a fair amount of water running into the house from the ceiling. Also, the wind was so strong that it was forcing the rain under the sliding windows and into the house as well.

"We also had hail we're not sure how no windows were broken because the wind was so intense we could see the glass bending.

"We have no idea how much rain fell as the rain gauge was also a casualty of the wind!"

She said that outside presented a scene full of damage, with the roof from the shearers' quarters ripped off and the ablutions block beside it totally destroyed.

The front of the shearing shed/ workshop had been blown in possibly by a tank they found up the road past the shed. Everything inside the shed was tossed around like children's toys.

The meter pole snapped off and the power line was lying across the roof of the shed.

Four tanks in total were lost. One molasses tank on the other side of the creek which had about 100mm of molasses left in it was smashed and pieces of it were left in in an adjoining paddock, while another tank which was beside the shed ended up between 7km and 8km west of the house.

At the cattle yards, the weigh box and race were almost blown over (a work table broke their fall). Two round bale feeders were tossed over the panels and ended up in a section two yards away.

"The hail and wind were so strong that there is a 3km or so section along the creek where the trees that are still standing have been stripped bare and the grass has been obliterated in some parts there is only bare stalk or no grass at all," Jenny said.