Southeast braces for potential cyclone as north continues clean-up

SOUTHEAST Queensland beaches could be hit with four-metre waves over the next two days as a tropical low sweeps past. It comes as disaster relief funds begin to flow after flooding in the state’s north.

DANGEROUS waves of up to four metres are likely to begin pounding southeast beaches tomorrow as the tropical low begins to track towards the Queensland coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology has updated the current situation in the Coral Sea and said the tropical low was still unlikely to become a cyclone.

It comes as the Bureau of Meteorology announced Queensland’s La Nina period had officially ended.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s ENSO Outlook has shifted from La Nina to Inactive this afternoon after ocean and atmospheric conditions eased to a neutral range over the past several weeks.

The weather bureau said the short-lived La Nina had “relatively little effect on Australian rainfall patterns over the 2017–18 summer”.

BoM meteorologist Grace Legge said coastal regions of southeast Queensland will begin to feel the impact of the tropical low from tomorrow, with dangerous surf conditions, large swells and high tides in the morning expected.

Weather Update: Tropical low expected to affect coastal southern Qld from tomorrow (Wed.)
Video current at 1 pm Tue. 13 March.
See https://t.co/LCGSKSamla for Qld weather warnings; follow advice from emergency services; check @lifesavingqld for beach closures. @ABCemergency pic.twitter.com/KoRICQDgMz

— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) March 13, 2018

“The low is currently northwest of New Caledonia and is unlikely to develop into a tropical cyclone but will still have impacts on areas of Queensland,” she said.

“The low moves south-south-west today and tracks towards the coast but likely to remain offshore.”

Strong to gale force winds are also likely to impact coastal Queensland areas from Wednesday.

A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of the Wide Bay, Burnett and Southeast coast districts for the dangerous conditions.

High tides on Wednesday and Thursday could cause some inundation in low-lying areas prone to flooding but BoM forecaster Dean Narramore says the system is unlikely to bring much rain to the southeast.

“Most of the heavy rainfall will be offshore. Coastal areas could see quite a few showers but no widespread heavy rain,” he said.

Bayside Brisbane residents have been issued urgent advice about preparing for wild conditions.

“We’ve seen these east coat lows affect our city back in the days of (cyclones) Oswald and Debbie. If you can get ahead of the game, it’s a good idea,” Redlands Mayor Karen Williams told ABC radio this morning.

Four sandbagging stations will open today.

A Redland City Council spokesman said the disaster management group had “erred on the side of caution” due to “general uncertainty” around the east coast low.

Sunshine Coast SES depots have also been stocked with thousands of sandbags and crews have been put on alert, ahead of the predicted wild weather.

SES local controller Sunshine Coast unit Janet Scott said she was most concerned the region’s already sodden ground would leave trees vulnerable to falling in strong winds up to 60km/h and gusts up to 90km/h.

Ms Scott said 3000 sandbags were ready to go in SES depots, and volunteers would be on “semi-standby” from Tuesday.

Sandbags have been made available at the Nambour Showgrounds for Sunshine Coast residents in case of flooding.Julie Vinther from the SES helps Nambour resident Tarcisco Franz filling up bags.

Meanwhile, in the north, insurance assessors have moved into flood-stricken areas of the north to begin calculating the damage toll.

In Ingham, 90 per cent of homes are believed damaged after previously being unable to access the town.

An Insurance Council of Australia spokesman said the extent of the damage was not expected to be known for some time.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has appointed state recovery co-ordinator Brendan Moon to assist communities recover from the flood.

“The teams on the ground are doing a great job and everyone is working together ... to get things back to normal for these communities,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

She said money was flowing to flood victims in the north, with 863 applications for personal hardship payments granted and authorities maintaining close contact with isolated communities including Burketown, Normanton and Karumba.

Luke Chittenden with his wife Tiffany and children Brydie (middle), Jorja (left) and Lily (right), mark where the water came up under their house. Picture: Chris Lees

The Chittenden family was among those starting the clean-up in Ingham.

Luke Chittenden said his home had been surrounded by floodwater since Friday and at one point was under more water than in 2014.

“When we got the flood in 2014 we lost a load of stuff, so we built the shed after that,” he said. “I built that to cope with the (2014) flood level and a little bit more, but I still ended up with 100mm through the shed as well.”