Queensland flood crisis shifts south
Brisbane Times
Queensland's flood crisis has struck the state's south as continuous heavy rain causes flash flooding across the region.
There was no let up from the rain yesterday and overnight, with up to 300mm of rain falling on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts and across Brisbane.
Flooding cut power to thousands of homes overnight and rain is expected to fall across the region for the remainder of the week.
BRISBANE INUNDATED
A number of Brisbane roads have been closed due to water but the city has so far escaped heavy flooding. The worst conditions have been experienced at flooding hotspots Rocklea, Brookfield and Ashgrove.
However, weather forecasters have predicted that further heavy rainfall will hit the city in the next 24 hours.
Brisbane City Council has made sandbags available for residents. They can be collected from the council depots at Darra, Morningside, Zillmere and Newmarket.
The Darling Downs town of Dalby is preparing for its fifth flood since December 20. The town's mayor is urging residents not to become complacent about the dangers of floodwaters.
The Myall Creek was at three metres and rising at 8am this morning, after rain began pouring down on the area at 10pm on Sunday.
Meanwhile, businesses have already gone under in the southeastern Queensland city of Gympie, where the Mary River is expected to rise beyond 20 metres.
HEAVY RAINFUL
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Janine Yuasa said the highest rainfalls were recorded on the Sunshine Coast, but Brisbane and the Gold Coast were also hit hard.
"The highest fall [since 9am yesterday] was 292mm at Maleny. We also had 261mm at Landborough, 198mm at Noosa, 177 at Tewantin and 142mm at Caboolture," she said.
"The northwestern suburbs of Brisbane have been hit the hardest. There was 188mm at Everton Hills, Mitchelton had 166mm, that whole area had similar totals.
"Brisbane city itself had a more modest total of 91mm and Brisbane Airport recorded 85.6mm."
The highest totals on the Gold Coast were 109mm at Lower Springbrook and 104mm at Upper Springbrook.
DAM RELEASE
Water releases from southeast Queensland's dams are expected to cause minor flooding in Ipswich tonight and the middle and lower reaches of the Brisbane River tomorrow.
About 223,00 megalitres will be released each day from later today and higher than expected tide levels may also cause moderate flooding in Brisbane.
WET OUTLOOK
"We are expecting rain periods today, heavy at times and some [thunder] as well [across the southeast]," Ms Yuasa said.
ROADS CLOSED"That's up to 100mm to 200mm and perhaps exceeding 200mm in some areas over the next 24 hours. The rain is likely to continue tomorrow and start to ease to patchy showers on Wednesday," she said.
The wet weather has forced the closure of a number of roads across Queensland's southeast.
Motorists have been advised not to enter floodwaters and to seek alternative routes at locations affected by the wet conditions.
An elderly couple and two police officers had to be rescued after their vehicles were swept into floodwaters at Rafting Ground Road in Brookfield.
The couple got into trouble after they attempted to cross the flooded road. A police squad car responded to an emergency call but was also swept into the water due to poor visibility.
The police officers and the couple were winched to safety before both vehicles were towed from the water.
The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service has responded to a number of swift water rescues across the state in the past 24 hours. These included several in the Tanawah, Gympie, Buderim and Beerwah areas.
A yacht has broken free from its mooring and has been spotted drifting down the Brisbane River, police say. The vessel was spotted from Coronation Drive just after 7am this morning.
POWER OUT
About 4300 households in Queensland's southeast remain without power this morning.
Energex spokesman Ron Watson said most of the outages were located on the Sunshine Coast and northern areas of Brisbane.
Energex have experienced trouble gaining access at some homes due to the poor conditions. Mr Watson said the priority was to repair fallen power lines.
Power to the main street of Gympie was cut at 6pm last night in anticipation of the Mary River flooding the centre of the city.
Energex restored power to 9000 homes in Queensland's southeast this morning.
EMERGENCY CALSS
The SES received 4000 calls for assistance via its Queensland emergency hotline. About 200 calls were received for the Brisbane region, with a further 238 for Caboolture. The Maroochy area recorded 628 calls, with about 520 received in Toowoomba.
Spokeswoman Chantelle Rule-Murphy said a number of households had experienced roof damage, water damage and were requesting sandbags.
- with Georgia Waters and Dan Nancarrow
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