Brisbane weather: Wivenhoe, Somerset Dam floodgates opened

Water releases continue for South East Queensland’s major dam for the second time in a month, after severe weather lashed southern Queensland.

The floodgates at Wivenhoe Dam were also opened last month. Picture: Seqwater

Water releases have been ordered for Queensland’s major dams for a second time in a month, after severe weather lashed southern parts of the Sunshine State.

The Western Downs was inundated with water, with dozens of roads cut off by flash flooding after intense rainfall had persisted well into the new year.

The wild weather saw emergency services rescue a car from floodwaters in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane early on Thursday morning.

Two adults and one child were pulled from the car and escaped with no injuries.

College Crossing over the Brisbane river in Karana Downs and Chuwar has been blocked off due to flash flooding, as predicted by Seqwater early following dam releases.

All lanes of Mount Crosby Road have been blocked near the crossing and Qld Traffic urges motorists to use a different route.

Persistent rainfall prompted Seqwater to issue controlled releases from both the Somerset and Wivenhoe dams after they reached 82 per cent and 91 per cent capacity respectively by 11am on Thursday.

“Wivenhoe Dam has a dedicated flood storage compartment above the water supply storage level, which is currently 0.4 per cent of its capacity,” a spokesman for Seqwater said.

“Controlled releases of water, using the gates that consider downstream flows, are planned in the coming hours.

“These releases are required to manage water levels and make room for further inflows.

“Several ungated dams are also spilling.

“Please stay away from any fast flowing or deep water near waterways downstream of the dams.”

The spokesman said while it was unclear how much water was needed to be released, the controlled releases were expected to continue for 24 hours from 3pm on Thursday.

However, flood releases from Somerset had stopped by early Friday.

The releases from the two dams, combined with river and creek flows downstream have caused some flooding over Twin Bridges and Savages Crossing, Seqwater said on Friday morning.

A severe emergency alert watch and act was issued to the Western Downs local government area earlier in the day, after the Jandowae Dam spillway exceeded the moderate flood level of 0.5m.

The Western Downs Regional Council urged residents to prepare and act to the conditions.

Meanwhile, South East Queensland was spared severe thunderstorms, as the Bureau of Meteorology tipped clear skies well into the weekend.

Senior meteorologist Angus Hines said: “Thursday will be a bit cooler than average, with cloudy skies and maximum temperatures around 25C-28C across South East Queensland.”

The weather would brighten up from Saturday.

It comes after the South Burnett region was hit by heavy rainfall and flash flooding earlier this week, with 150mm falling over Kingaroy.