Brisbane floods: River set to peak at close to 2011 level
Residents in the firing line of a major flood of the Brisbane River are fuming that an evacuation alert was sent when “most of us are in bed. The peak reached 3.85m, slightly lower than the expected 4m this morning. Operators insist they’ve learnt the lessons of 11 years ago.
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The Brisbane River is now expected to peak at 4m, less than half a metre shy of the 2011 Brisbane flood peak, but locals in the 140 suburbs in the firing line have vented their anger at the lateness of the notification to consider evacuating.
Authorities on Sunday predicted the river would reach a peak of 3.1m, but last night revised the forecast after hours of relentless rain.
The flood peak is now expected to reach 4m at high tide this morning, just shy of the 2011 peak of 4.46m.
“Major flood levels are expected with the high tide during Monday morning and river levels may reach 4.00 metres,” a Bureau of Meteorology alert said.
“River levels are not expected to drop below the moderate flood level during Monday and will remain high for at least the next few days.”
Authorities insist they have learnt from the flooding a decade ago and have now started controlled releases from the state’s largest dam which are tipped to continue for at least three days, but residents have vented their anger at the lack of information and the lateness of the 9pm advice for residents across 140 suburbs to consider evacuating.
Helen E O’Neill said it was “disgraceful communications by Brisbane City Council, putting out a blanket post like this whilst providing no information for people as to where to go and how to get there”.
“It’s not like they haven’t known about this.
“Clear, concise and consistent communications are critical by leaders in moments of crisis, and I’m not seeing that at all by the mayor or the council, very poor form!”
Vicki Johnson said she could not believe the advice, which was shared by the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service and posted across weather watching sites, was put out when ‘most people are in bed’.
“What is wrong with our government institutions. So slow.”
“You’ve had all day to issue these warnings,’’ another said.
Others complained the information on where to go, how to get there without encountering floodwater, was non-existent.
“So considering Bellbowrie, Anstead, Moggill, Pinjarra Hills, Pullenvale and parts of Kenmore have been cut off since (Saturday) evening, where the hell are we meant to evacuate to?,’’ Natasha Fraser asked.
Natasha Beaumont summed up the sentiment of many.
“How on earth could they not have warned us of this and prepared us all. It is 2022!
“All of the avenues to warn and inform so that we don’t lose lives, homes and businesses but nothing!
“We were sending our kids to school on Friday and decided to pick them up when it got really bad- no government warning. Insanity. Terrible management.
Others said storm chasing sites were doing a better job than the government, weather bureau and council in warning residents well ahead of the deluge.
Some ripped into the Queensland Premier describing her flood press conference on Sunday as that of a comedian who did residents ‘no favours. “Absolute clown,’’ Shoana Standen said.
There were residents also questioning the list, saying areas which had been flooded badly were not on it while others where the flooding was easing had been included
“100 plus suburbs, I’m impressed and what a logistical nightmare,’’ Alex McIntyre Gore, of Chermside said. “I see another class action coming.’’
Alyson Christensen said Ashgrove residents were stranded with every road out of the suburb flooded.
“(There were) people speeding around the suburb in circles trying to get out not knowing they couldn’t. Some people were stranded in their houses before lunch.”
The Bureau of Meteorology stressed it was an “absolutely evolving” flood, which “can get to major”.
“The comparisons will be a bit more apparent after it stops raining,” senior meteorologist Jackson Browne said.
Residents in low-lying areas of the Bremer and Brisbane rivers were on alert with the high tide expected to hit between 8.30am and 11am.
Controlled water releases started at 4am Sunday as Wivenhoe Dam reached 177 per cent, with its two-million-megalitre flood storage facility almost half full.
The water releases amid rising floodwaters has drawn fearful comparisons with 2011, where thousands of homes were inundated as a result of the negligent management of the dam.
Ipswich councillor Paul Tully, whose community of Goodna was among the hardest hit one decade ago, declared this would be a “similar or worse event” than 2011.
“One thing that is concerning a lot of people are the water releases from Wivenhoe,” he said. “It’s directly impacting Goodna … it doesn’t make sense to me, Goodna is right in the firing line – why are they releasing it?”
Mr Tully said the water was slowly rising “bit by bit every hour”, different to 2011 when the floods “came in a rush”.
“There are people who were here in 2011 and they’re very distressed at having to go through it again … others who weren’t here in 2011 can’t believe what’s happening,” he said.
“There’s a high degree of despondency.”
Seqwater’s Mike Foster insisted the controlled nature of the releases would minimise their impact and he said it was “not our expectation” they would exacerbate river levels.
“The whole driver is to, as best we can, not add to the impact or increase the impact of what Brisbane is already seeing,” he said.
Each release from the dam takes between 16 and 24 hours to travel downstream.
Mr Foster dismissed questions about why dam operators did not make releases earlier, declaring “we just do not have the technology or forecasting power” to determine where and when the rain would fall.
He said dam operators made decisions based on certainty when inflows into the catchment could be gauged.
“When we know the waters on the ground, and we know the inflows are coming in, that gives us absolute certainty around our releases,” he said.
“If you’ve got forecasts that are telling you that there’s a massive amount of water coming in and say that forecast does not eventuate and we have put large amounts of water into the mid-Brisbane River what we’re actually doing is exacerbating the flooding and causing flooding.”
However Mr Foster said authorities were confident, based on forecasting, Wivenhoe Dam’s floodwater storage compartment could be used without the need for a prolonged release.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland was not in the same situation as 2011 and said this weather system had lingered longer than forecast.
“We had an inquiry following the 2011 floods, the dam manuals have been updated and I have been absolutely assured that those dam manuals are being followed and that means controlled releases … that is safety for SEQ residents,” she said.
“No one expected this rain bomb to be sitting over the southeast of our state for such a long period of time.
“This is like an unpredictable cyclone and it is the level that we have never expected or could never have been forecast.”
Frank Beaumont, who became one of the most prominent faces of the floods when his Ipswich home was destroyed a decade ago, said he had been evacuated again.
Mr Beaumont was evacuated on Saturday morning and declared it was “2011 all over again”.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said this was a “unique event” different to the one 11 years ago.
“It is different to 2011 – in 2011 we saw the rain had stopped while the river continued to rise … right now we’re seeing rain bucketing down,” he said.
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