Sunshine Coast floods: Roads impacted as region braces for more rain

The southern Sunshine Coast is in the firing line of a power supercell bearing down on the region with warnings for 125km/h wind gusts and large hail in place.

MAJOR UPDATE 5.30PM: The weather bureau has warned Sunshine Coast residents of severe thunderstorms containing damaging winds, large hail and heavy rainfall with Caloundra in the firing line.

The bureau warning comes after severe thunderstorms were detected at Mt Beerwah and Beerburrum and moving towards Caloundra.

“They are forecast to affect the area southwest of Caloundra, Peachester and Crohamhurst by 5:30 pm and Caloundra, waters off Bribie Island and Landsborough by 6:00 pm,” the warning reads.

“Damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding are likely.”

It comes after the Sunshine Coast hinterland has been slammed once more by severe storms overnight, as an epic flood recovery effort continues across the region to repair torn up roads and damaged homes.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for south east Queensland, including the Sunshine Coast area for Thursday and says a supercell could strike the region early Thursday afternoon.

There’s been reports of flash flooding on Maroochydore Rd and Old Maroochydore Rd in Kunda Park, Crosby Hill Rd in Tanawha, Neill Rd and Eudlo Rd in Mooloolah Valley.

SES have reportedly had 200 calls for assistance since 8am on Thursday.

Giant hailstones, intense rainfall and damaging winds are forecast after another night of severe storms ravaged the region with the hinterland battered overnight and Thursday morning.

Some schools and public transport have been affected by the severe weather system which continues to hit the region.

Check out the latest below:

School closures

Sunshine Coast schools are contacting parents to cancel classes tomorrow as the region prepares for another lashing of heavy storms on Thursday night.

Mountain Creek State School emailed parents Thursday afternoon following the bout of wild weather warning families to stay home.

“Due to the advice from the QLD government today and Mountain Creek Primary school flooding, which is also causing sewerage issues, the school and OSHC will not be open tomorrow,” the email read.

Education Minister Grace Grace said on Facebook schools across south east Queensland will only open on Friday if it's safe to do so.

The facilities however will only be open to children of essential workers and those experiencing vulnerability.

“Our message is that students should stay at home wherever possible though and if you don’t need to be out on the roads, don’t be,” the post read.

“Safety of students and staff is of course paramount, and this weather is of serious concern.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk mirrored her colleagues comments on Thursday by saying any parents and carers with children in regions such as the Sunshine Coast, Gympie, Wide Bay and Moreton Bay should pick up their students as soon as they could.

Offshore rescue

Wild weather off the Sunshine Coast has prevented a seriously ill man from being taken to hospital overnight after he suffered a heart attack aboard a cargo ship.

RACQ LifeFlight were tasked to the vessel off the coast of Mooloolaba late Wednesday evening after a man in his 40s suffered from cardiac arrest.

Paramedics and the RACQ LifeFlight crew working to treat the man during the wild weather off the coast of Mooloolaba. Picture: RACQ LifeFlight Rescue

Water police, paramedics and the LifeFlight medical crew travelled to the freighter by boat to treat the man about midnight Wednesday.

Paramedics stayed on board the vessel overnight until the wild weather cleared enough for the helicopter to fly safely to the ship.

The man was winched aboard the chopper and flown to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Unstable situation

The weather bureau is warning for intense and severe thunderstorms on Thursday with the potential of a supercell event.

Bureau of Meteorology atmospheric scientist Brooke Pagel said more severe thunderstorms were forecast for the Sunshine Coast and could hit in the early to mid afternoon with the potential for flash flooding.

She said damaging winds of up to 95km/h, large hail and heavy rainfall were expected.

The bureau has warned the potential for flash flooding on Thursday because rivers and creeks were already at capacity.

“There may be supercells this afternoon where you see destructive wind gusts of 125km/h and five centimetre hail and intense rainfall,” Ms Pagel said.

“Because catchments are already saturated, some rivers could have renewed river level rises.”

She said the supercell could hit from the Gold Coast to Bundaberg and out to Toowoomba.

“This weather system is across the board, the actual area we’re predicting for these severe thunderstorms is from the Gold Coast to Bundaberg and Toowoomba,” she said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the conditions were severe and unstable.

She urged parents to collect their children from schools when it was safe to do so.

“Children are safe at school … but as a precaution we would like people to collect their children when they think it is safe to go out on the roads,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

The Department of Education confirmed schools that could safely open tomorrow would only be open to children of essential workers, but that students should stay at home wherever possible.

To access online tools and resources to support students, visit the learning@home site at https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/learning-at-home.

It comes after Maroochydore received 52mm of rainfall in half an hour overnight.

Sunshine Coast Council confirmed Energex responded to at least 80 fallen powerlines across the region.

Authorities are greatly concerned about the danger this poses, telling people to stay in their homes and not to drive through the area.

A spokesman said the severe storms had a significant impact on Landsborough and Beerwah.

Council crews and arborists, Energex, Queensland Police Service, Queensland Fire and Rescue, SES and Rural Fire Service are onsite to manage traffic, clear debris, clear and restore powerlines, and assist residents and make the area safe until the storms have passed.

Sunshine Coast Council has urged residents to stay safe and remain vigilant as flood warnings have again been issued for the Maroochy River, Mooloolah River and Coochin Creek.

The Conondale community should remain on high alert, as flash flooding in the upper Mary River is possible.

ROADS CLOSING, RAIL SERVICES CUT

Several roads are closed in the hinterland including Steve Irwin Way, Old Gympie Rd and Old Landsborough Rd in Beerwah.

Queensland Police Service advised those roads had been closed this morning due to trees and power lines coming down.

Traffic diversions were in place via Roys Rd.

Steve Irwin Way, Old Landsborough Rd & Old Gympie Rd CLOSED diversions via Roys Rd #qldtraffic#Beerwah

— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) March 2, 2022

Pinelands Rd and Whites Rd were also closed while the Conondale community was being told to remain on alert with flash flooding risks from the rising Mary River.

There were also reports of inundation already on Old Maroochydore Rd near Kunda Park on Thursday morning as well as The Esplanade in Cotton Tree.

Sunshine Coast rail services have been suspended this morning due to a tree being caught in the overhead lines with TransLink confirming services had been suspended between Nambour and Caboolture.

Impacted roads include Steve Irwin Way, Old Landsborough Rd, Old Gympie Rd, Pinelands Rd and Whites Rd. With several roads closed and powerlines down, council and emergency services are encouraging residents to stay off the roads, where possible.

Telstra towers are affected and is working to restore communications.

The latest storm event has left some residents flooded in for the third time in one week.

Corkwood Crt, Mountain Creek, resident Debbie Dunscombe was surprised to see her street flood again on Thursday morning.

“It’s been so stressful but we’ve not been hit as bad as some other parts,” she said.

“You have to count your blessings that you have not lost your homes like some people.”

Ms Dunscombe said coming from the UK she and her husband had experienced being snowed in, but this was the first time in 13 years of living in Australia they had experienced flooding.

SCHOOLS CLOSE

Some Sunshine Coast and Noosa schools are shutting their doors on Thursday as weather conditions continue to worsen.

Landsborough State School principal Benjamin Gaske took to social media to inform parents the school remain closed on Thursday.

“Our school will be closed today, as storms have created power outages and dangerous conditions including dangerous road conditions,“ Mr Gaske said.

“The safety of students, staff and community members is our highest priority.”

Meanwhile, Sunshine Coast Grammar told parents on social media the school will remain open on Thursday despite heavy rain.

“The school remains open today and despite the heavy rain, we are not experiencing any flooding on campus,” the social media post stated.

“We will continue to monitor the rainfall and post any further updates as required throughout the day.

“There is a lot of water around this morning and we urge parents to stay safe and drive to conditions.”

Here’s the full list of closed schools for Thursday:

Glenview State School

Landsborough State School

My independent School in Beerwah

EARLIER

A Queensland Fire and Rescue spokesman said there were 31 calls for assistance overnight in the Beerwah and Landsborough areas following an intense night of rain.

He said there were reports of trees fallen on roads and many roofs damaged, while parts of Steve Irwin Way have also been impacted.

Sunshine Coast resident Dean Flutey said there were trees everywhere with one narrowly missing his neighbours house when the storm passed through at 3am on Thursday.

“It was a scary 10 minutes when the wind peaked and the noise was so bad,” Mr Flutey said.

“There is no power, we got told the power lines are down.”

More than 23,000 Energex customers were without power in South East Queensland as of 5am on Thursday, including over 12,000 in Brisbane.

This is down nearly 50 per cent of the outages reported on Tuesday night, where almost 35,000 were without power.

Sunshine Coast woman Monique Abdesselem said her home was hit by “huge hailstones” about 3am, saying “it’s put a huge gum tree through the window into the house and snapped off the live powerlines off the top of the house”.

Multiple roads remain closed with diversions in place while crews work to repair what they can.

Several key roads are also damaged in the Noosa Shire including Hilton Tce and the Noosa North Shore Ferry Service has not resumed services.

Noosa Council advised staff were busy assessing roads for damage so they can be safely reopened.

It comes as the weather bureau has forecast a fresh line of severe thunderstorms that are set to smash a saturated Sunshine Coast and Noosa with potential for 150mm downpours.