Heavy rain, flooding hits southeast Qld

More than 150mm has fallen in the past 24 hours as southeast Queensland's big wet ensured a rain-sodden weekend.

People walking with umbrellas amid a Brisbane downpour (file picture).

The BoM says many areas in southeast Queensland receive their monthly average rain in just one day. (AAP)

The deluge swamping southeast Queensland has delivered average monthly rainfalls within 24 hours, producing flash flooding, road closures and overspilling dams.

Friday's big wet continued on early Saturday morning with widespread heavy falls of 150mm-plus in the 24 hours to 9am, swelling creeks and rivers.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the upper low system saw many areas from the Sunshine Coast to Gold Coast receive more than their monthly average in one day.

Binna Burra in the Gold Coast Hinterland was the most rain-sodden with 215mm in 24 hours, while Springbrook, Tamborine Montain and Numibah all topped 200mm.

In Brisbane, Park Ridge in the southern outskirts had the most with 167mm and Kenmore Hills received 163mm.

Nambour was inundated on the Sunshine Coast with 156mm, while storms further north saw Paluma, near Townsville, receive 174mm.

Among the flash flooding, two tourists had to be rescued by swift-water crews on Friday night after their car was swept from a causeway at Kobble Creek, near Dayboro.

The pair escaped their vehicle but were washed 200m downstream.

A four-year-old was also pulled from a drain in Morayfield, north of Brisbane, where he was playing unsupervised before being stuck for more than 20 minutes.

Bureau forecaster Lauren Pattie said the chance of thunderstorms through the weekend and into next week could still see some areas receive more large dumps.

"There's still a chance of seeing heavy falls but they're more isolated and associated with thunderstorms rather than the widespread and excessive rain we've seen," she told AAP.

SEQ Water advised 13 ungated dams were spilling as the catchment's average rainfall for the coastal areas ranged from 130-230mm.

"The SEQ Water Grid ... climbed to 76.8 per cent - a 1.2 per cent increase in the past 24 hours. Inflows for the dams will continue over the next few days," it said in a statement.

The Grid, which makes up nearly 90 per cent of southeast Queensland's total water storage, has captured over 35,000 million litres of water flows as of Saturday morning.

Farmers out west could also celebrate some welcome help with storms dumping more than 50mm in central Queensland areas.

It came as the Isaac region was offered federal disaster assistance funding after copping torrential rain this week in storms rated worse than Cyclone Debbie by locals.


Share
3 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Heavy rain, flooding hits southeast Qld | SBS News