A VIOLENT hail storm ripped through central Brisbane last night, blacking out 6500 homes and crippling the ABC’s television studios, as heavy swells continued to pound the east coast for the sixth day in succession.

The storm dumped 40mm of rain and centimetres of hail in and around Brisbane, damaging cars and buildings at the ABC television studios in the inner-western suburb of Toowong.

Extensive water damage to the studios forced the network to abandon its 7pm state news bulletin and instead broadcast the Sydney telecast.

A State Emergency Service spokeswoman said 160 calls for assistance were received from people whose houses had been inundated by water or which had suffered roof damage.

The storm swept through from about 5.30pm, gridlocking the city for the next 45 minutes as motorists attempted to escape its wrath during the evening peak hour.

Houses were also damaged at Kedron, Red Hill, Wavell Heights and Bardon.

More than 200 lightning strikes were recorded.

A spokesman for electricity distributor Energex said about 6500 homes lost power in a ring of inner-city suburbs. By 7.30pm, power had been restored to about 2500 customers.

ABC Queensland television news producer Bernard Bowen said the storm struck the Toowong studios as the final touches were being made to the state’s evening television news bulletin.

“We had 10 to 15 minutes of fierce wind and the rain was running sideways,” he said.

Mr Bowen said the studio’s presentation area was hit and damaged by water. “It disabled us as a TV station and we couldn’t put thenews to air.”

He said it was unknown whether the studio would be back up and running in time for tonight’s 7pm news but said every effort would be made to get a bulletin to air.

Theresa Rule, from Toowong Village in Brisbane’s west, said more than 20 stores in the 150-shop complex were water-damaged after hail blocked drains on a rooftop car park.

“It was like a snow storm,” Ms Rule said. “The streets were covered in hail and all the drains around the village were blocked and started flooding into the centre.”

A low-pressure system in the Tasman Sea, causing some of the biggest waves seen in years along the east coast, was last night heading towards New Zealand, with wave heights expected to drop off over the next 24 hours.

All but the most intrepid of surfers stayed on the beach as wave heights peaked at 7m.

There was an average swell of 4m along Sydney’s beaches. The famous bombora off Manly beach provided die-hard surfers, including former world champion Barton Lynch, with outstanding conditions on which to ply their craft.

It was ideal for “tow-in” surfing, where surfers are pulled on to the waves by jet skis.

“It is dangerous, absolutely,” said Andrew Lye, owner of the Dripping Wet Surf shop at Manly. “It’s not for the faint-hearted. People should understand their ability and surf within their limits. In reality, many of them should be sitting on the beach watching.”

At Long Reef, on Sydney’s northern beaches, dauntless surfers were being towed out to the biggest waves.

Leon “Seal Pup” Barclay, 33, said that yesterday was the first time in four years there was tow-surfing there.

“When it’s like this, nobody paddles out there,” he said. “It’s dangerous, very. We wear life jackets. It’s full-on.”

Don White, of the Weatherwatch consultancy firm, said the swells from Nowra to Port Macquarie were being fed by a southerly airstream, even though the low was moving towards New Zealand.

He said for average surfers the weekend promised to be perfect. “The distance between the waves will lengthen and the wave height will drop to a safer level of about about two metres.”