UPDATE: A MASSIVE thunderstorm has hit southeast Queensland, bringing torrential rain, flash flooding and blacking out homes.

A weather alert was posted by the Bureau of Meteorology just minutes before rain smacked the east coast, leaving thousands of people without power.

Weatherzone reported more than 4000 lightning strikes within 80km of Brisbane in the space of one hour.

A police spokesman said 50 people were evacuated from an inner city building after the storm caused a partial cave-in of the roof of a lodge. He said the storm had also caused a minor fire in Seventeen Mile Rocks after a home was struck by lighting.

People in Brisbane, Redlands, North Stradbroke and parts of the Gold Coast, Logan and Moreton Bay have been badly hit with thousands of homes left without power, falshing flooding and partial road closures.

Read more at the Herald Sun