A 17-year-old woman received a shock from a lightning strike while sitting on a metal toilet seat in a waterfront public bathroom block at Hervey Bay in south-east Queensland.

The Fraser Coast holiday town appears to have suffered the heaviest impact from a large storm front that moved across southern Queensland on Friday afternoon and evening.

Paramedics said the teenager suffered isolated injuries when the toilet block she was in received a lightning strike.

Building debris from the storm on a main street in Hervey Bay. ( Facebook: What's On Hervey Bay )

She is in a stable condition in Hervey Bay Hospital.

A 68-year-old man was killed by a falling tree branch at a Hervey Bay caravan park as wild weather wracked the Fraser Coast around 7:00pm.

Authorities said the man was rushed to hospital but could not be revived by paramedics or doctors.

Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) senior forecaster Rick Threlfall said Hervey Bay was hit with a severe and sudden storm.

"Based purely on the radar and the damage we saw there we are estimating 110 kilometre an hour winds, but certainly could have been more than that," he said.

Local residents described it as a mini cyclone.

Fallen branches block a section of road near the Hervey Bay waterfront. ( Facebook: Vicki Neville )

Tony Donovan said he was inside when the storm hit.

"It was cyclonic — the wind came up and it was fierce. It was a bit of a shock," he said.

Jane Wild said the storm seemed to appear from nowhere.

"It was ferocious, it was violent and howling," she said.

Energex said it recorded more than 200,000 lightning strikes on its network, with storm damage cutting power to more than 50,000 properties across central and southern Queensland.

By Saturday morning, more than 1,500 properties were still without power in the Wide Bay area.

Ergon Energy said crews would work to restore power on Saturday.

The SES said it received about 40 calls for help across the state, mostly for leaky roofs.

BoM forecaster Jonte Hall said Oakey also received very powerful wind gusts.

"One of the first storms of the day actually through mid afternoon had a wind gust of 111 kilometres an hour," he said.

"Townships near Maryborough received 80 millimetres of rain in an hour."

There is a high chance of showers and the chance of another severe thunderstorm for south-east Queensland on Saturday.

Further north, the BoM has forecast a medium to high chance of showers and thunderstorms east of about Mount Isa to Hughenden to Dirranbandi, although most activity should remain inland from the tropical east coast.

A man was killed by a falling tree branch at a Hervey Bay caravan park. ( Facebook: Sarah Winterbottom )