Schools closed, stay home order: What you need to know as severe storm emergency unfolds

Southeast Queensland residents have been told to stay home for the next 48 hours with schools to be closed on Friday except for the children of essential workers as fierce storms continue to lash the region. EXPLAINED: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Southeast Queensland residents have been told to stay home for the next 48 hours as fierce storms continue to lash the region.

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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has given an update on the ‘extremely unstable’ weather conditions, here’s what you need to know:

- An emergency alert has been issued for Grantham with flash floods rising rapidly and the town set to be cut off. The Lockyer Valley council sounded the evacuation siren telling residents to begin relocating.

- Parents in the northern Moreton Bay region right up to Bundaberg have been asked to pick up their children from school as soon as it is safe to do so with the region set to be lashed by more storms today. Ms Palaszczuk said the kids are safe at school but she wants everyone home as soon as possible

- Fears a supercell storm will form across today with the Bureau of Meteorology warning wild storms bringing flash flooding will ‘really ramp up’ on Thursday afternoon bringing possible 125km/h winds and giant 5cm hail

- Ms Palaszczuk has pleaded with all southeast Queensland residents to ‘stay home’ over the next 48 hours with extreme weather predicted. “The safest place for people to be in the next 48 hours is at home with their loved ones and not on the roads’, she said.

- Parents across the southeast have been asked to keep their children at home on Friday, with the Education Minister confirming schools will be open for essential workers, but everyone else should stay at home

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk pictured addressing the media at the Kedron Emergency Services Complex. Picture: Josh Woning

- Residents in flood-ravaged suburbs have been told to stop cleaning up and not to return to their homes while this weather situation continues to unfold, saying there are ‘life- threatening’ thunderstorms. Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy said people who had been inundated over the past few days, “there is a possibility your home will be inundated again”.”Please do not move back into your homes if you have been inundated,” he said.”What we don’t want is for emergency services at midnight tonight needing to come back into those areas and evacuate you again.”

Wild storms continue to batter southeast Queensland.

- The renewed concern comes after severe storms slammed into southeast Queensland this morning with 48mm of rain dumped in Brisbane in 30 mins and 6cm giant hail recorded elsewhere

- The Premier urged people to constantly monitor updates, describing it as ‘unprecedented times’. “Everyone, please listen to the alerts,” she said. “This is a serious situation and these are unprecedented times. I’ve lived in Brisbane essentially all of my life and I haven’t seen storms and floods like this all being thrown at us at once.”

The big clean up continues in Windsor. Picture: John Gass

- Authorities said catchments were so waterlogged, they could not cope with further rain and water would rise quickly and suddenly

- Moderate flooding is expected by midday today in Ipswich with major flooding forecast for tonight

-  A BOM spokeswoman said two factors were causing the weather conditions - a lot of moisture in the air and unstable air, which made it ripe conditions for severe thunderstorms

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