Sunshine Coast weather: Low whips up ‘gale’ winds, heavy rainfall

A cruise ship which has already battled a Covid-19 outbreak is “doing circles” off the coast as wild weather continues to thrash parts of the state.

As wild weather continues to thrash the Sunshine Coast, a cruise ship is being forced to move in circles off the coast of Caloundra with the Port of Brisbane closed.

A Caloundra Coast Guard radio operator said the Coral Princess ship would have to move slowly all day and overnight as the Port of Brisbane wasn’t expected to reopen until early Saturday morning.

“A lot of the ships have been driven further out than they have usually been sitting because of the gale force winds,” he said.

He said the ships were battling up to five metre swells and southeasterly winds of up to 40 knots.

Ship owner Princess Cruises confirmed the ship’s entry into Brisbane would be delayed until Saturday, providing piloting services resumed and the port reopened as the weather eased.

“Guests currently on board and those who were due to embark today for the next cruise are being updated regarding the ship’s late arrival and being assisted as fully as possible,” the company said.

The same cruise experienced a Covid-19 outbreak earlier this month with more than 100 cases.

It was understood about 50 passengers disembarked on July 15, 2022, at Brisbane International Cruise Terminal, while 40 new passengers boarded.

The Sunshine Coast had copped flooding, heavy rain and damaging winds with more than 150mm of rain recorded in 24 hours.

Maleny recorded 115mm to 7am Friday with Dunethin Rock (Maroochy River) reaching up to 112mm in the past six hours.

Weather

Emergency services pulled people from their car after it became stuck in floodwaters at Yandina and residents have been warned for dangerous sea conditions with swells of up to five metres.

Dangerous wind gusts of 90km/h have been recorded as a monster low kicks up seas and winds across the south ease.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jess Casey warned residents to be cautious.

“There was 100 to 150mm of rainfall across pretty much the entirety of the Sunshine Coast hinterland in that 24 hour period between 9am Thursday and 9am Friday morning,” he said.

“Principally Maleny had 151mm which was the most and that rainfall certainly slipped into the Mary River and Stanley River catchment.

“At this point there is no expectation the rivers and streams on the Sunshine Coast will be causing any flood issues but that doesn’t mean that flash flooding and some swift water rescues will not be going on.”

Several people were pulled to safety after a car entered a flooded causeway at Yandina on Friday morning.

A QFES spokeswoman said there were no injuries and that crews were able to walk the everyone to safety.

Maroochydore Roos Under 10s players take a post game slide on their saturated AFL oval as torrential rain and flash flooding continues across south east Queensland. Picture Lachie Millard

Minor flash flooding resulted in several roads being inundated, however they were expected to clear throughout the day.

Severe weather warnings for damaging winds and dangerous surf are current for the northern parts of the Sunshine Coast.

“We’ve already seen damaging gusts over 90km/h recorded and expecting that if you go down to the beach today, you’re going to get blown away and that’s expected to continue well into Saturday with four to five metre swell across the South East Coast,” Mr Casey said.

The dangerous surf conditions are expected to cause localised damage and coastal erosion.

A Queensland Police spokeswoman urged people to drive to the conditions after a tree had fallen onto Main Creek Rd in Tanawha around 10am.

Wappa Dam has reached 117.4 per cent of its capacity, according to Seqwater.