Queensland towns brace for flooding

Inland communities are braced for flooding as heavy rain continues to fall across north, central and southeast Queensland.

banana_shire_qld_flood_101227_B_aap_557796115





Forecasters are warning there'll be more of the same over the next few days along the entire east coast and many inland communities.

Southeast Queensland is expected to see the worst of Monday's rain, after falls of 40-80mm from Brisbane to the NSW border, and a 120mm deluge in parts of the Gold Coast, since 9am on Sunday.

Inland many communities are on flood watch.

Chinchilla, Roma and Charleville are all on flood alert as swollen rivers and creeks continue to rise.

Chinchilla, on Charley's Creek in the Western Downs, is braced for its worst flood in almost 30 years.

"That's really rising fast and it looks like it's going to be a very big flood there, bigger than in 1983," senior hydrologist Paul Birch, from the Bureau of Meteorology's Flood Warning Centre, told AAP.

"The town and houses are affected. The creek's at about 6.45 metres, and it was 6.6 metres in the 1983 flood.

"Further down, there are rises happening at Roma in Bungil Creek, that goes right through the community so it will affect houses."

He said Bradleys Gully at Charleville was also being watched very closely.

Western Downs councillor Bill McCutcheon said Chinchilla was now cut off with residents waiting to see where the creek would peak.

"The record of all time is 7.95, which we're certainly hoping we get nowhere near," he told the ABC.

"But we are concerned now with this heavy rain continuing that the level of flooding is going to increase."

Meanwhile, evacuations have begun at Theodore, on the Dawson River west of Bundaberg.

Banana Shire Council Deputy Mayor Maureen Clancy said the river was steadily rising and efforts began on Monday to evacuate about 15 residents from the town's retirement village.

The local hospital's four patients will also be moved later in the morning and some residents in low-lying areas have also left their properties, she told AAP.

"Houses in low lying areas of the town are being impacted upon. About five families have self-evacuated, and police are starting to move out some others," she said.

"Theodore has endured higher levels than what's there at the moment but of course it is very, very high and it's certainly a threat."

Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said authorities were closely watching the Fitzroy River, which is continuing to rise.

"We're certainly expecting levels like we saw a week and a half ago, when it peaked at 7.64 metres," Mr Carter told AAP.

"We believe there's a real possibility that it could go higher than that."

When the 7.64 peak occurred, water surrounded low-lying properties in the Rockhampton area but didn't inundate homes. Mr Carter said another half a metre on top of that could see water in people's living rooms.

Meanwhile, rain continues to fall in north Queensland after tropical cyclone Tasha crossed the coast as a category one between Cairns and Innisfail on Christmas morning.

It's now a rain depression delivering only moderate falls.

"The heaviest rainfall has been through Townsville and extending further inland with falls up around 60-80mm since 9am yesterday," Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Brett Harrison told AAP.

But he said forecasters were watching a low pressure system sitting just offshore in the Gulf of Carpentaria near the Northern Territory border.

"It's expected to remain near the coast ... at this stage it's a low possibility of it becoming a cyclone," he said.

"But if it was to move further northward into the Gulf then those chances will increase."

There were more than 1100 calls for help to the State Emergency Service's hotline overnight, most for leaking roofs and precautionary sandbagging.

There were also four swift water rescues across the state overnight as motorists continue to ignore warnings not to cross flooded roads.

In one case, two utes became stranded on Sunday night in rising floodwaters on the Oakey Pittsworth Road at Mt Tyson, forcing the rescue of four people, including a child and its parents.

The family was taken to Oakey hospital as a precaution.

Police, frustrated as motorists continue to ignore warnings not to cross flooded roads, have charged a man after he drove into flood waters and became stranded.

The 28-year-old called for help about 3am (AEST) on Monday after becoming stranded Murrays Road at Tanah Merah.

He wasn't hurt but police said it was another example of silly behaviour tying up the resources of emergency services, and other motorists who did the wrong thing could also expect to be charged.

Twenty people have died in flood-related incidents in Queensland in the last two years.


Share

5 min read

Published

Updated

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