Brisbane 2022 floods: Timeline of how they unfolded

Brisbane’s 2022 floods rank among the most devastating in the city’s history. This is the sequence of events.

How the devastating Brisbane 2022 floods unfolded:

FEBRUARY 23:Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warns of potential “significant rainfall event for South East Queensland” with the risk of “dangerous and life-threatening flooding”. Phillipa Tayler, 63, and Phil Lambert, 54, die in separate flooding tragedies. Ms Tayler, of Belli Park, dies when her car gets stuck in floodwaters in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Mr Lambert’s body is found by police divers after he came off his motorcycle while trying to ride over a creek at Cedar Pocket near Gympie.

FEBRUARY 25: Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski tells a media conference that more intense rainfall is expected throughout the day. Lowood SES volunteer Meryl Dray, 62, dies while trying to help a family escape floodwaters at Coolana, near Ipswich, and Gympie meatworker Phil Sugg, a 37-year-old father-of-three, is swept away while driving home from work. The Bureau of Meteorology issues flood warnings for the Brisbane and Bremer rivers.

FEBRUARY 26:Brisbane is hit by more than 225mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am. Ms Palaszczuk tells a media conference the rain system had been expected to move through “quite quickly … but it hasn’t. It’s decided to stay.” She says she knows people who went through the 2011 floods are worried but “there is no concern for alarm … we can’t control nature, unfortunately”. The BOM’s David Grant says a major flood warning is in place for parts of the Brisbane River. Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner warns on Facebook that water could enter thousands of properties in the city and suburbs. A 55-year-old Camp Hill man’s body is recovered from floodwaters at Stones Corner.

FEBRUARY 27:Brisbane receives 228.4mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am. The Premier says emergency alerts have been issued for multiple suburbs and Brisbane River heights, which were predicted to 2.6m-2.7m, are now at 3.1m. She warns that at least 1430 homes may be flooded “above the floorboards”.

“No-one expected this rain bomb to be sitting over the southeast of our state for such a long period of time,” she says.

There are multiple dramatic rescues, including people plucked from rooftops and a man pulled from the Brisbane River at Howard Smith Wharves after his houseboat sank.

Brisbane landmarks Suncorp Stadium and the XXXX brewery at Milton go under water.

Three more lives are lost in separate flooding tragedies, including rheumatologist Dr Alex Klestov, whose car is washed away on the Brisbane Valley Highway near Glen Esk while on his way home from treating patients in Rockhampton.

IN PICTURES: Brisbane wakes to flood devastation

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FEBRUARY 28:Brisbane River in the city reaches its peak of 3.85m, after another 228mm, 24-hour drenching. A crane breaks loose from its moorings on the Brisbane River, sparking a major emergency amid fears it could smash into the Howard Smith Wharves or the Story Bridge. The Premier tells a media conference that up to 15,000 homes could be impacted and there are 1544 people currently in evacuation centres across the southeast. Surf lifesavers recover the body of northern NSW man Troy O’Keefe who died when his station wagon was swept into Currumbin Creek.

MARCH 1:Rain eases, but the Brisbane River reaches another flood peak of 3.35m. The Premier says the 2-3-day rain event has delivered the equivalent to 80 per cent of an entire year’s rainfall, with over 30 suburbs in the southeast receiving more than 1000mm.

She says the Brisbane River’s height has stabilised and is starting to fall, but the flood level is expected to remain around 3.5m over next few days amid staged releases from Wivenhoe Dam.

MARCH 2: Brisbane receives just 0.2mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am. The Premier holds a media conference in Gympie, which experienced its second-worst flood in recorded history after the Mary River peaked at 23m.

MARCH 3: Brisbane receives another 56mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am. Ms Palaszczuk tells a media conference “severe conditions” have been forecast, urges parents to pick up kids from school “when it is safe to do so” and announces schools will be closed the following day to all but children of essential workers. She says it’s “a serious situation ... these are unprecedented times”. The body of a 53-year-old Brisbane man is found under wharf at the Port of Brisbane after he reportedly tried to cross the flood-swollen river in a tender.

MARCH 4: Forecast severe storms fail to eventuate. Brisbane receives just 0.6mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am. Ms Palaszczuk calls a media conference to apologise to parents “for the inconvenience” but says she acted based on advice and “safety has to come first”.

MARCH 5: Brisbane’s “Mud Army 2.0” is stood down after just one day of work, with Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner telling thousands of volunteers their job was done and the army and council would continue the clean-up. Brisbane records no rainfall in the 24 hours to 9am. The body of Gold Coast woman Gabrielle Sale, 42, is found in Mudgeeraba Creek after her car was swept away by floodwaters on February 27.

MARCH 6-7: Two more bodies are found. Wondai’s Gregory Hodges, 67, died after the car he and his wife were travelling in was swept into floodwaters in the South Burnett region. His wife clung to a tree and was rescued by members of the public. Warwick man Troy Hearnden, 31, disappeared on February 27 and his body was found inside a VW Polo submerged in the Mackay CBD.

Gallery: Brisbane flood destruction from the air

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