Flash flooding on Tin Can Bay Rd after rain dump at Veteran

The wild weather is back, with storms dumping heavy rain on several suburbs in the Gympie region and forcing the evacuation of an aged care facility in Cooroy. See how much fell.

Shelley Strachan

less than 2 min read

February 3, 2022 - 11:55AM

Gympie

Don't miss out on the headlines from Gympie. Followed categories will be added to My News.

The storm that caused flash flooding and the evacuation of an aged care facility just south of Gympie on Wednesday afternoon dumped huge totals of rain in a matter of minutes on parts of the region.

Less than a month after ex-tropical cyclone Seth caused mass flash flooding and three deaths in the western and northern reaches of the Gympie region, storms have dumped up to 110mm of rain in 15 minutes at Veteran, Pomona and Cooroy.

At Veteran, local residents said their rain gauge showed they received 110mm within 15-20 minutes around 4.30pm on Wednesday, and then a further 25mm overnight for a total of 135mm.

“It is the heaviest rainfall I have seen since being in Gympie over 22 years,” one resident said.

“We are located on top of a hill so no flooding as such although the pool overflowed and some minor water build up down stairs as the water could not get away fast enough. The gutters were no match for the rain.”

Flash flooding was reported on Tin Can Bay Rd near Veteran.

A Queensland Ambulance spokesman said paramedics transported 31 patients from Eden Private Hospital at Cooroy to nearby facilities after the building’s roof suffered storm damage and was deemed structurally unsafe about 5pm on Wednesday.

More rain is expected on Thursday and Friday, with high chance of up to 15mm on Thursday and 20mm on Friday.