© Derek BarryLarge hail and destructive winds hit Chinchilla this afternoon.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said golf-ball-sized hail and destructive winds tore through the town, in the state's Western Downs, on Wednesday afternoon.
Ergon Energy said it hoped to restore power to some of those properties overnight.
The main evacuation centre was among the buildings damaged, but Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown said the building was not needed because those affected had found alternative accommodation.
Chinchilla Christian School will be closed on Thursday due to the extent of damage.
The State Emergency Service (SES) has received about 120 calls for help in the Chinchilla area, with damage to homes, businesses and cars being reported.
SES volunteers expect to work through the night as they move from house to house, helping with immediate repairs.
Councillor Brown said the hail was small, but it fell in huge volumes.
"It's very thick, and that's probably the concern with the collapsed roofs, ceiling have collapsed in some buildings, that's caused flooding," he said.
"And of course our Ergon workers are working tirelessly at the moment to try and close power off to make people safe."
A large pile of hail left in the aftermath of a storm that hit Chinchilla this afternoon.
Local resident Bill McCutcheon said it was difficult to determine the amount of damage caused by the storm but the hail was about the size of large marbles.
"At the moment our lawn here looks like a snow field," he said.
"I can see that our trees here have been almost totally stripped of their leaves."
Mike Smith said the hail had blanketed the ground.
"My daughter told me it was two to three inches," he said.
"There's a lot of wind and very heavy rain, visibility when the rain was on, you would be lucky to see 100 metres."
Farmers in the region are also surveying damage.
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