Power had been cut for more than three hours when lightning struck Diamantina Power Station. 

Coles Store manager Dylan Every said staff saved as much as they could by moving products into the cool rooms. 

Perishable goods on the shop floor such as meat and dairy were lost. 

Mr Every said losses were under $75,000. 

Mount Isa’s smaller supermarkets lost little except customers during the blackout. 

Colonial Market owner Bob Burow  said no stock was lost but the store was closed to preserve temperature. 

“We lost a lot of customers,” he said. 

There was also some difficulty with the store computers, he said. 

“That’s life,”  he said.

Spar supermarket owner Joe Rivis said his two stores lost some hot food. 

“It was not a great amount of food,” he said. 

Like other Mount Isa businesses, the Spars supermarkets closed Wednesday afternoon.