Extreme weather hits southeast Queensland

UPDATE: Premier Anna Bligh has declared a state of emergency in southeast Queensland after the most extensive flooding in the region since the disastrous 1974 floods.

UPDATE: Premier Anna Bligh has declared a state of emergency in southeast Queensland after the most extensive flooding in the region since the disastrous 1974 floods.

The premier said that joint State and Commonwealth-funded Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) operated from 6pm today.

The declared disaster area takes in the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and areas west to, and including, the Toowoomba region and follows extreme weather across the region.

The heaviest rainfalls in almost a decade dumped more than 300mm on the southeast, causing flash floods and chaos across the region.

Roads are closed, schools are sending students home, pupils at one school surrounded by water are likely to spend the night there, and emergency services have been stretched by a series of rescues, as motorists are caught out by rapidly rising floodwaters.

On the Gold Coast, an office worker is dead after he was hit by flying debris driven by 100km/h winds from the wild storm.

The man - who was in his office as savage winds lashed the coast - died after he was hit by an awning which was blown off his building.

He later died in hospital.

The winds were so strong there are reports of barbecues and furniture being blown off high-rise balconies.

The winds also tore off part of the roof of Circle on Cavill this afternoon.

Windows were blown out of some buildings on the coast - with the Bureau of Meteorology warning of 100km/h gusts - and police sealed off part of central Surfers to ensure tourists and locals were not hit by flying debris.

In Brisbane, dozens of roads have been cut by flooding and one of the city's busiest arteries, Bowen Bridge Road, has been cut by flooding, creating major traffic problems.

There was also a mass rescue under way from nearby Downey Park, with 54 people stuck in about 20 vehicles.

Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital was also affected with flooding in their main carpark.

Almost 500 students across five schools – Aspley, Kenmore, Redbank Plains, Pullenvale, and Brookfield – are completely stranded and they and 65 staff and seven parents will spent the night in their classrooms.

Police are urging people to avoid non-essential travel if possible, given the treacherous weather conditions and widespread flooding.

As floodwaters remain a problem across the southeast, parents are warned to ensure children, who may be home from school, do not play in swift-flowing water or flooded waterways to avoid any risk of drowning.

Fast-flowing streams have also been a problem for some motorists.

On the Gold Coast, a swift water rescue team is heading for a woman and baby whose vehicle is stranded on Staghorn Way at Austinville near Mudgeeraba.

Further north, a vehicle carrying two people became stranded in floodwaters on Dales Road, north of Dayboro.

Emergency services says two people have been rescued  after clinging to a tree in the water.

Google Map: Where the flooding is
Full list: Where the roads are flooded

A person was also rescued after becoming stuck on the roof of their car in floodwaters on Beachmere Rd, Beachmere.

Floodwaters caused by torrential rain across the region have caused chaos, cutting roads, including the Bruce Highway, and closing schools.

In Brisbane, a flooded Enoggera Creek has cut road access to St John's Wood, between Ashgrove and The Gap.

And as the weather system moved south, northern New South Wales was bracing for trouble.

Ten properties have been evacuated at the mouth of the Tweed River on the NSW north coast as heavy rain pelts the area and floodwaters rise.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has issued warnings of severe weather and moderate to major flooding for people living along the coast between the Nambucca region and the Queensland border.

Flood watches are current for the Tweed, Brunswick, Richmond, Wilsons, Clarence, Bellinger and Nambucca rivers.

The State Emergency Service (SES) says residents of 10 properties on Letitia Road and Fingal Drive at Fingal Head have been taken to an evacuation centre at Kingscliff TAFE.

``There are other properties and people at Fingal Head who could soon be isolated,'' SES spokesman Phil Campbell said.

Wettest day in 17 years

In the 24 hours to 9am today, Beerburrum recorded 302mm, its wettest 24-hour period in 17 years. In the same time period, Redcliffe received 151mm while Brisbane city picked up 89mm, its wettest 24-hour period in eight years.

Since 9am, the deluge has continued. Redcliffe has recorded a further 40mm in the last two hours, while Brisbane has received another 22mm.

Landslide and road closures

In Brisbane, there are reports of a landslide on Settlement Rd northbound between Kilbowie St and Yarrabee Rd in the left lane at The Gap.

Flooding has cut the Bruce Highway and more than 50 roads across Greater Brisbane as rainfalls of up to 300mm drench the region.

Main Avenue at Woolloongabba is closed at Deshon Avenue.

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State schools north of Brisbane are urging parents to pick up their children because of the dangers of flooding in classrooms as torrential rain continues to hit the region.

Hundreds of students at Burnside High School at Nambour on the Sunshine Coast and Dakabin State High School near Deception Bay have been sent home this morning due to flooding at the schools.

Education Queensland is expected to send home more students from schools throughout the day as the downpour continues to sweep across the state.

One high school student, Elizabeth from Redcliffe, wrote to The Courier-Mail website and said her school was inundated with heavy rain and students were told to go home.

"I'm not sure exactly how much we've had but it would be up around 200ml,'' she said.

"It is raining so hard here that my school was closed about half an hour ago and we were all told to ring our parents to pick us up.

"Our oval is so flooded the water is gushing on to the road.''

A number of Catholic schools have also been closed due to fears of flooding and parents have been asked collect children as soon as possible.

They ar: Our Lady of the Way, Petrie; Mt Maria College, Petrie; St Columban’s College, Caboolture; St Peter's School,Caboolture; Holy Spirit School, Bray Park; St Benedict’s School, Mango Hill; and St Kevin’s School, Geebung (Prep).

The following schools have not been closed, but parents may collect their children if they wish: Siena Catholic College, Sippy Downs; Unity College, Caloundra; and Sacred Heart, Sandgate.

An announcement will be made this afternoon with school closures anticipated for tomorrow.

Torrential rain to continue

The rain is being caused by a low pressure system has formed just off the southeast Queensland coast. This low, combined with extremely high moisture levels and favourable upper atmospheric conditions, has led to the torrential rain says weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Matt Pearce said.

"At the moment, we are seeing the focus of the heaviest rain in the region from Brisbane down to the Gold Coast, extending inland as far as Toowoomba. This rain will gradually extend further south through the rest of the day."

"Daily rainfall totals well in excess of 100mm will be commonplace, and we are expecting falls over the next few days to exceed 500mm in some locations. This will obviously lead to a significant flood threat across southeast Queensland through the rest of this week."

Dam levels up 3pc in one day

One positive from the downpour is the effect on Brisbane’s water storages. A 3.4 per cent rise was recorded in the total dam storage level overnight, with today’s rain expected to see that level rise even further.

"Heavy rain will continue across the region tomorrow before the main focus shifts south into northeast New South Wales on Friday. However, heavy showers will persist right through the weekend," Pearce said.

"A Severe Weather Warning is current for flash flooding, damaging winds, abnormally high tides and dangerous surf for the Southeast Coast district and the eastern Darling Downs. People should avoid being outside in these conditions as much as possible, and particularly stay clear of flooded roads and waterways.

Bruce Highway cut

The Bruce Highway is cut between the Pumicestone Road overpass and the Bribie Island overpass in the Lagoon Creek area.

No traffic is moving through this area and all motorists heading south are advised to delay their travel.

The north bound lanes are open but traffic is moving very slowly. There are reports of water on the northbound lanes near the weighbridge at Burpengary.

There is also extensive local flooding in the Caboolture area and many local roads are closed.

Further to this, a traffic hazard is causing delays on Peachester Road in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland after a piece of road broke away, motorists are advised to proceed with caution.

Traffic on the Pacific Motorway has come to a virtual standstill after a car broke down on the Captain Cook Bridge. Traffic is back to the Esher Street overpass.

Flooded roads

Gympie Road at Carseldine is also cut.

 Police have also closed Melton Road at Nundah on Brisbane's northside, where a car has broken down in floodwaters.

Other roads that have gone under include:

 Gympie Road near South Pine Road at Bald Hills

 Telegraph Road between Lacey and Norris Road at Bracken Ridge

Rafting Ground Road at Brookfield.

Annerley Road between Palmerston Street and Carville Street in Annerley is flooded.

Morayfield Rd at Burpengary because of flooding at Burpengary Creek.

Gap Creek Rd in Kenmore is flooded, motorists are asked to avoid the area.

Bowhill Road at Inala and Paradise Road at Pallara are also experiencing localised flooding.

Tamborine Oxenford Rd in Wongawallan is flooded.

Anzac Ave near Kinsellas Road in Mango Hills is flooded.

Right lane of the Ipswich Motorway outbound near Six Mile Creek, Redbank.

Manly Road between New Cleveland Road and Castlerea Street at Tingalpa road is closed due to flooding. Traffic is being diverted along Wondall Road, Bognor Road and then onto Wynnum Road.

Avalon Road between Mount Cotton and Summit roads at Sheldon is closed due to flooding and a tree has fallen across the road causing a further hazard.

 Buses delayed

TransLink has been advised that some Bribie Island bus services have been halted due to flooding at Bellara, Banksia Beach and connecting roads through to Caboolture.

The services currently affected include Routes 640 (Bribie to Caboolture) and local Bribie Island Routes 641 and 642.

Commuters will be returned to their original stops, however school children will be returned to the depot at Armitage St, Bongaree and the operator is working with schools to inform parents.

Power outages

Strong winds cut power to about 8200 homes and businesses across Brisbane, the Gold and Sunshine coasts overnight and about 471 remained without power this morning.

An Energex spokesman said this included about 200 homes and businesses in Bribie Island where flooded roads was making gaining access to fallen powerlines difficult.

Woodford, Connondale, Brisbane Valley and Cleveland were also affected.

He said the weather conditions meant it was likely more outages would be experienced today and tomorrow, and asked all customers to be patient.

The spokesman said rising floodwaters were a potential danger to underground power systems and asked customers to report any damage or imminent damage to 131962.

Strong winds until Friday and dangerous seas

The heavy rains will continue until at least until Friday, with strong winds and dangerous seas expected to develop overnight.

Bureau of Meterology senior forecaster Tony Wedd said that as the strong upper low bringing the rain moves towards the coast, a surface low was expected to develop in coastal areas bringing extreme weather conditions.

Mr Wedd said winds of up to 90-100kmh were expected in exposed southern coastal areas, creating six to seven metres seas at their highest and the risk of heavy beach erosion.

"Conditions will be particularly dangerous and we're recommending people stay out of the water," he said.

He said the winds were expected to pick up overnight and tomorrow, but the rain should ease into the weekend as the upper low moves out to sea.

A severe weather warning remains current for south east coastal areas.

Festival postponed

Brisbane's Greek Festival Paniyiri has been postponed because of the bad weather. It was   due to take place this weekend.

Rain quenches parched Darling Downs

The overnight rain follows a day of wild weather in the southeast that extended to the drought-hit eastern Darling Downs received some useful rain, with Toowoomba's parched

SEQWater spokesman Chris Zipf said Brisbane's three dams were taking small flows.

"We need about 50mm to wet and prime the catchments and this rain overnight got us off to a good start," Mr Zipf said.

"If the predicted rain continues, it should translate into a pretty good position for the dams."

Combined Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dam levels late yesterday were 59.28 per cent and rising.

Water restrictions to continue

But despite the possibility of reaching the 60 per cent trigger for the easing of water restrictions, southeast Queenslanders will remain on limited use for up to six months.

The Queensland Water Commission yesterday opted to keep current Target 200 restrictions in place for up to six months, or until December 1, regardless of dam levels.

Residents had been in line for an extra 30 litres of water a day.

Acting Natural Resources Minister Geoff Wilson said the postponement of Target 230 would provide Queensland with a comfortable buffer in case of emergency.

"We're wanting to balance the good work that everyone has done in reducing their per capita consumption of water, with the challenge of making sure that we leave a lasting impact in the community of the importance to save water," Mr Wilson said.

With winds expected to increase significantly today, Energex general manager of energy delivery, Bill Lyon, warned of possible power interruptions.

Severe weather cut power cut to 2500 homes and businesses in Logan, Moorooka, Manly, Sherwood, Corinda and the Lockyer Valley early yesterday.

"We're urging anyone who sees powerlines down to keep themselves and others clear and call Energex on 131 962." he said. Rain will continue tomorrow, reducing to showers on Friday.