Queensland flood emergency: One dead, towns swamped as floodwaters still rising
A major clean-up is under way west of Brisbane after floods claimed a man’s life, swept cars down creeks and forced the evacuation of towns, while rising rivers are expected to cause more major flooding.
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Rising rivers are expected to cause major flooding today for parts of central and southern Queensland, while one river is on its way to reaching its 2011 flood peak.
The warning comes as a major clean-up is under way west of Brisbane after the fatal floods that claimed a 73-year-old Roma man’s life and swept cars down creeks, damaged properties and forced the evacuation of Queensland towns.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LATEST RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS
But police and meteorologists warned the worst could be yet to come for some towns where rivers were expected to peak Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the Macintyre River at Goondiwindi could rise to 10.7m, similar to its 2011 flood peak, late on Friday as further upstream floodwater arrives.
The river peaked at 10.64m in January 2011 and is sitting at 8.85m
The Macintyre is flooding downstream of Holdfast and sitting at 10.02m at Boggabilla where it’s expected to peak near 12.8m on Friday night.
NSW towns, Boggabilla and Toomelah were placed on alert late Thursday afternoon with flood evacuations currently in place. Official SES advice has warned residents if they remain in the area after Friday December 3 at 11am it is likely they will become trapped.
Other rivers around Queensland were expected to peak on Thursday.
However, in good news for many waterlogged communities, river levels have peaked and are easing in the Burrum, Cherwell and Isis catchments along with the Logan River, Burnett River, Maroochy River catchment, Mooloolah River, Coochin Creek, Stanley River, Brisbane River, Lockyer and Laidley Creeks, Bremer River, Warrill Creek and Condamine River.
The heavy rainfall in key catchment areas means South East Queensland is unlikely to face water restrictions this summer, with the SEQ Water Grid increasing by 4 per cent in the past week to 59.5 per cent capacity.
More than 300 calls for assistance were made overnight to the State Emergency Service (SES). There were 135 requests for assistance in the Brisbane region alone.
Major flooding forecast for rivers around Beaudesert, the Lockyer Valley and the Darling Downs could bring further devastation after the death at Yalangur near Toowoomba.
The Roma man was driving one of two utes swept into Oakey Creek at Kelvinhaugh-Yalangur Rd about 8am on Wednesday morning.
A man driving the other ute freed himself and was uninjured.
It wasn’t until 10.25am that the 73-year-old’s ute was found.
Emergency services spent hours working to access the car and free the man’s body as police divers were called in to help.
“Investigations are continuing regarding the circumstances surrounding the incident,” Queensland Police said in a statement.
“Anyone with information is urged to come forward.”
The death comes a week after Clermont man Trevor Zimmerman, 77, died after the vehicle he was travelling in was located submerged in flood waters at Hibernia near Emerald.
Wednesday’s tragedy came after 1000 residents were evacuated from Inglewood, further south, late on Tuesday night.
Locals on Thursday morning began the long clean-up process following.
Water had completely receded below the town bridge about 4:30pm on Wednesday, allowing residents access to their homes.
Many properties were left unscathed, however some suffered significant water damage.
Lifelong Inglewood resident Paul Williams said he was “devastated,” as he walked through his sodden home, which was completely renovated just six months ago.
Mud and stale water lapped around his feet as he circled displaced furniture, which had been stained brown by the water.
“I’m devastated,” he said. I didn’t think it’d come up this high, I kind of joked it wouldn’t even come at all.”
It was about 5:30pm Tuesday that Mr Williams got the first inkling his house may be inundated with water.
“We got a knock on the door saying we need to get ready to evacuate, then about 11pm they came ‘round again,” Mr Williams said.
Mr Williams, who has lived at his home on Great Road St for about 12 years, said the community would rally together for the clean up ahead.
“I think first thing will be insurance, and then I’ll have to get the ute in and throw everything on the back … The renovations will have to be done again … It’s all right.”
Sandy Hobbs, who has lived at her Inglewood home for 45 years, wants an inquiry into why more wasn’t done to protect the town.
Ms Hobbs, who works at the local primary school, had water halfway up the walls of the first storey of her George St home.
She said she lost thousands of dollars worth of furniture and white goods, and sentimental items like a box of family photos — which she was on Thursday trying to dry out in the sun.
“There was not a lot of warning,” Ms Hobbs said.
“There needs to be some kind of inquiry, we need to learn from this. With all these experiences you’ve got to learn a lesson. Hopefully there is some form of inquiry, to make sure we’re more prepared for next time.”
Ms Hobbs said rainfall in the days before the flood was significant.
“The water’s been coming for days and days and we knew the dam was quite full and we were all quite concerned about that,” she said.
“And then once all the extra rain came down we thought ‘oh goodness, there’s only one way to go. So I hope that the council do learn something from this. Why keep the dam at such capacity?”
Just before 11pm on Tuesday — the same time the town was being evacuated — the dam peaked at just below 111 per cent capacity.
On Thursday morning, dam levels had dropped by over 4000 mega litres, to just below 105 per cent capacity.
“Learn from that,” Ms Hobbs said. “Start letting more water our more frequently maybe. It’s rain season, it’s storm season, we’re going to get the rain. Be prepared and have that sort of logic.”
Ms Hobbs said the anticipation of what was to come while seeking refuge at the local cemetery — used as an evacuation point for the town on Tuesday night — was dreadful.
“It was horrible, it was dreadful,” Ms Hobbs said.
“Because we sort of didn’t really know the extent of what was going on. We got some feedback because I think there were drones and posts on Facebook … by the end of the night we couldn’t look at Facebook anymore.”
Ms Hobbs said SES crews and police worked tirelessly to ensure everyone’s safety.
She said they were “amazing, truly exceptional,” while the community had rallied together to help Ms Hobbs with her clean out.
At about 10am Thursday, those helping her clear her house had already done seven truck runs to the local dump.
“We were extremely emotional to see the extent of the damage and really disappointed we didn’t get more notice to have the opportunity to put more stuff up to higher ground, but you know, we’ve been dealt this,” Ms Hobbs said.
“We have an amazing little community here and everyone’s so helpful with cleaning up our house. “We have a beautiful friends and great kinship here, we’re so blessed.”
Residents described an uncomfortable and anxious night evacuating to a cemetery where their only shelter was their car and people were getting bogged.
Naomi Smith received an evacuation message to her mobile about 10pm when she made her way to the cemetery on Tobacco Rd to wait in a line of cars trying to reach higher ground.
“We were in the line for quite some time and they eventually turned us around because it was full and people were getting bogged,” Ms Smith said.
“It was a bit nerve wracking not knowing what was going on.”
Ms Smith, her husband and son spent the night parked up at a second evacuation point on the side of a road out of town.
Queensland Police Service Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the local disaster management group initially anticipated just 10 properties would be impacted.
Things changed when 90mm of rain fell in the town within an hour.
“It happened quite quickly,” Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said.
“ … As the night went on, the water was significantly more than had been expected so the modelling changed.”
He said they initially expected the river to peak at 10m but that was revised late in the night to more than 11m.
“Once we’re heading over 11m, we’re looking at a major flood issue,” Mr Gollschewski said.
An emergency alert was sent to phones and SES crews began door knocking further properties.
Local SES and rural fire and rescue services will be assisted in the clean-up by reinforcements from nearby towns in the coming days. The local Inglewood SES crew started to assess damage at homes and businesses yesterday, while electricians walked throughout the town ensuring the town’s power was secure.
About 50 residents of Yelarbon, southwest of Inglewood, were also evacuated from their homes ahead of major flood levels expected on Wednesday evening, but the town escaped without major flood damage.
The residents were evacuated from the town as a precaution on Wednesday and were on Thursday morning yet to gain access back to the town, which remains cut off by water. There had been serious concerns for the town following a mass-evacuation of residents from Inglewood, just 40km north.
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said we hadn’t seen the last of flooding as more rivers in the state’s south continued to rise.
“This isn’t over so some of this water will continue to cause problems,” Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said.
“We’re looking at what it might mean in St George and others areas particularly in the Dalby district disaster management area to see what’s going to happen later this week.
“In some instances there, and also in Goondiwindi, we aren’t expecting the peaks until later this week, possibly Friday.”
Major flood warnings remained for the Dawson River, Bremer River Logan River, Condamine River, Warrego River, Macintyre Brook, Macintyre River and Dumaresq River on Wednesday.
BOM meteorologist Shane Kennedy said some Queensland residents were yet to see their rivers reach their peak and the worst could be yet to come.
He said Beaudesert, the Lockyer Valley and the Darling Downs were most at risk of flooding from Wednesday night.
“It will take a couple of days for some places to see those peaks and certainly further rainfall in the southern Darling Downs won’t be appreciated at the weekend,” Mr Kennedy said.
“With major flooding you start to see that pasture and cropland inundation with the potential to see rivers and creeks spilling their banks in some places.”
State Emergency Services had already received 475 requests for help by 3pm Wednesday with the top three regions in need being Brisbane, southern Queensland and the north coast from Bundaberg to the Sunshine Coast.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Service Commissioner Greg Leach had two key messages for Queenslanders.
“If you live in a flood-prone area of southern Queensland, lease take the opportunity to tune in to your local media and keep an eye on the BOM website for local flood information,” he said.
“And if you’re out on the roads and you come across flooded roadways, please remember to back it up and find another way.”
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that prior to rainfall, water storage levels were close to their lowest levels since the Millennium Drought.
She said that the La Nina weather pattern is expected to bring wetter than average conditions for much of the east coast of Australia, with a high chance of above average rainfall in eastern Queensland until at least the end of January.
“We know that Queensland is a place of extremes,” she said.
“But recent falls mean we are unlikely to face water restrictions in South East
Queensland this summer.”
The Dawson River at Taroom is rising and expected to peak at 7.4m, above its major flood level, on Thursday afternoon.
Major flooding is expected along the river to Theodore.
Several towns along the Condamine River are also expected to have major flooding today with flooding currently occurring downstream of Warwick to Loudoun Bridge.
The river at Pratten could peak near 7.9m this afternoon and is likely to fall below the major flood level overnight.
At Tummaville and Cecil Plains, the Condamine could peak near 10.5m and 8m, respectively, late on Thursday.
Major flooding is also likely along the Balonne River to Surat and the river could exceed the major flood level of 9m on Thursday.
RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS AS OF THURSDAY MORNING
Major Flood Warning for the Dawson River, Minor Flood Warning for Callide Creek and the Isaac River
Major flooding is likely along the Dawson River to Theodore.
Moderate flooding may occur along the Dawson River downstream of Theodore.
Minor flooding is occurring along Callide Creek during Wednesday, between Jambin and Goovigen.
Major Flood Warning for the Logan River and Minor Flood Warning for the Albert River
Major flooding is occurring along the Logan River to Yarrahappini, with the flood peak around the Beaudesert area.
A peak is currently occurring at Beaudesert along the Logan River. River levels are at 10.72 metres (major flooding) and falling. This is higher than the peak observed last Saturday. The Logan River at Beaudesert is likely to remain above the major flood level (8.30m) overnight Wednesday into Thursday.
Moderate flooding may occur along the Logan River downstream of Yarrahappini.
River level rises are occurring in the Albert River.
Major Flood Warning for the Condamine and Balonne Rivers, Minor Flood Warning for Charleys Creek and Myall Creek
Major flooding is occurring along the Condamine River downstream of Warwick to Loudoun Bridge.
Major flooding is occurring along the Condamine River downstream of Loudoun Bridge to Cotswold.
Major flooding may occur along the Balonne River to Surat.
Moderate flooding is occurring along the Condamine River to Warwick.
Moderate flooding is occurring along the Myall Creek.
Minor flooding is occurring along the Charleys Creek.
Major Flood Warning for the Macintyre Brook, Macintyre River and Dumaresq River and Moderate Flood Warning for the Weir River
Moderate to major flood levels are occurring along the upper Dumaresq River and tributaries. Glenlyon dam is spilling, though outflows are decreasing. The flood peak is currently in the Texas area.
Major flooding is occurring along the Macintyre River downstream of Holdfast.
Moderate to major flooding is occurring in the upper Weir River. Major flooding is peaking in Wyaga and Yarrill Creeks during Wednesday evening.
Moderate flood levels are easing in the upper catchment.
Minor to moderate flood levels are rising along the lower Weir River, with major flooding also rising further downstream at Jericho.
Moderate Flood Warning for the Burnett River
River level rises and minor flooding are occurring in the Burnett River to Mundubbera.
Moderate Flood Warning for the Cherwell River and Flood Warning for the Elliott River
Moderate flooding may occur along the Burrum and Cherwell Rivers. Minor flooding at Railway Bridge is easing.
Moderate Flood Warning for the Bremer River and Warrill Creek catchments, and Minor Flood Warning for the Lockyer and Laidley Creek catchments
Minor to moderate flooding is occurring along the Lockyer and Laidley Creeks. Moderate flood levels are also occurring at Warrego Highway Alert.
Minor flooding is occurring along the Bremer River and Warrill Creek.
Moderate Flood Warning for the Paroo River
Moderate flooding may occur along the Paroo River to Eulo.
River level rises are expected in the Paroo River downstream of Eulo.
Minor Flood Warning for the Moonie River
Minor flooding is occurring along the lower Moonie River at Nindigully.
Minor Flood Warning for the Warrego River
Minor flooding is likely along the Warrego River downstream of Charleville.
Minor Flood Warning for the Bulloo River
Renewed rises are possible along the Bulloo River to Quilpie as recent floodwaters make their way downstream.
Renewed river level rises are occurring along the Bulloo River downstream of Quilpie.
Minor Flood Warning for the Barcoo River
Minor flooding is expected along the Barcoo River to Isisford from Wednesday.
Renewed river level rises and minor flooding are occurring along the Barcoo River downstream of Isisford, with another peak expected over the weekend into next week.
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