Strong winds tear up Callaghan Park race course
THEY thought they had a lucky escape after making it through the cyclone relatively unharmed, but Callaghan Park wasn't so fortunate in Thursday's storm.
There were plenty of people there enjoying the 100 Club Race Day when the storm hit, and they were inside the members' lounge taking shelter when the roof was ripped off.
Others, including stewards and jockeys, were waiting it out in the flooded office downstairs.
Darryn Nufer, from the Rockhampton Jockey Club, said it was really lucky no people or horses were injured.
A powerline came down and parts of the members' lounge, the slot box and the racing stalls all lost parts of their roofs, with the branches of a tree catching some of the corrugated iron.
"We had more structural damage during this storm than in the cyclone," Darryn said.
"None of the roof came off during the cyclone, but in five minutes yesterday bits of iron were flying around.
"People were inside (the members' lounge) when the roof collapsed… it looked like a lake in here."
The fourth race for the day had just finished when they were forced to take cover and cancel the remaining races.
"It was cyclone-force," Darryn said.
"We couldn't open the door, the wind was so strong."
The clean-up started straight after the storm, with pieces of the ceiling having to be raked up off the carpet.
They are now without power and have a big clean-up ahead of them, and Darryn said the challenge would be to get the race course ready for next Saturday's race meeting.
