Lifeline's new store falls victim to storm
STRONG winds caused a large gum tree to fall on Ipswich's newest Lifeline store over the weekend.
The Warwick Rd, Yamanto, superstore has remained closed since the incident was reported on Sunday night.
"There were a couple of nice big gum trees to the left of the store, and one of them that's about 12.2m long has come down in the weather," Lifeline Ipswich and West Moreton business operations manager Colin Hannigan said.
"The first I heard about it was Sunday night, when there was a lot of wild weather."
The Bureau of Meteorology's Amberley station recorded wind gusts of 76km/h at 9.30pm Sunday, and 104.4mm of rain between 9am and 9.30pm.
Mr Hannigan said the shop would not re-open until Lifeline received the all-clear from experts employed to inspect the building's damage.
"We've gone and checked on the store and have removed a few things," he said.
"We've organised to have the tree removed and will get the place checked before we re-open."
With the recent addition of the Yamanto superstore, there are now eight Lifeline shops in the Ipswich and West Moreton region.
Lifeline's Riverlink clothing shop opened late last year, joining superstores at East Ipswich, Goodna, Blacksoil, Fernvale and Gatton.
There is also a clothing shop at Raceview.
