Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley flood risks: Toowoomba council, Bureau of Meteorology warns of key areas for flooding as rain continues

Severe flood warnings are active for parts of the Lockyer Valley and the Toowoomba region, as the key areas of interest have been outlined.

Parts of the Toowoomba region are still on high alert for potential flash flooding over the next 24 hours, with mayor Geoff McDonald identifying four key areas at risk if sudden downpours were felt.

Nearly 100mm of rain has fallen on the Garden City since Saturday morning, with Perseverance Dam starting to spill while Cooby was “splashing” the edges of its dam walls.

It comes after more than 26,000 homes were left without power following the wild weather at the weekend, which downed powerlines and sent trees crashing through houses.

As of Monday afternoon, just 30 properties are still unconnected according to Ergon Energy.

Woolworths and Coles supermarkets will remain open where it is safe to do so but have advised certain stock may be limited.

“While our distribution centres are back up and running, our stock levels will vary by stores – depending on when our store team have been able to receive deliveries,” a Coles spokesperson said.

“Our team continue to work extremely hard to restock our shelves, but as this will take time, we have got some purchase limits in place on bottled water, long life milk and toilet paper.”

The latest Ergon Energy outage map for the Toowoomba region on Monday morning.

The State Emergency Service completed more than 70 jobs across the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley regions across Saturday and Sunday, mainly related to getting rid of trees blocking people’s properties.

Darling Downs district disaster co-ordinator Superintendent Doug McDonald, managing the disaster planning in both Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, said Queensland Police were well equipped for the incoming weather.

“The minister has declared a disaster for this particularly area and that affords us additional powers to undertake out emergency operations with our partner agencies through this weather event,” he said.

“These things are incredibly unpredictable, especially for a cyclone crossing where it has – it’s almost unprecedented.

“We have 28 police staff working around the clock down in the Gatton area, they are supported by a further 20 police from outside this region,” Superintendent McDonald said.

“We also have other emergency service down there on the ground, they include SES with our flood boats and swift water rescue teams.

“We are also talking constantly with our colleagues in the Australian Defence Force and making sure we understand what assets they have available and, if needed, we will position those assets in those particular areas as well.”

Superintendent McDonald said road closures were the next big focus for emergency teams as rain is predicted to subside in coming days.

“The Warrego Highway was closed this morning and will remain closed for some time and of course its opening will depend on weather conditions.”

“The issue for us with road closures is getting resources into the places where it’s needed.

“There is planning undertaken at all levels, especially at the state level, about making sure we are getting produce into supermarkets, making sure that we understand what the blockages are to that supply chain and working closely with all partners to do what we can to ease that impact.

“We are not just restricted to road transport and we will consider flying in resources if we need to.

“We are doing what we can, we need them to stay informed, listen to the media and social media, to remain aware of what the weather conditions are.”

Mr McDonald said while modelling had been tricky due to the unpredictable nature of ex-Tropical Cyclone, there was still a strong potential for flooding across the region.

SES crews clear a fallen tree from a Toowoomba property after it fell on a garden shed.

“Flash flooding is of greater interest right now, BOM is predicting up to about 50mm (Monday) and that won’t cause any great dramas (but) if you get that in an hour, it’s a different story,” he said.

“We recorded 200m of rain in Gabbinbar, that shows the unpredictability — it’s a real challenge to get this as accurate as we can.”

Mr McDonald said the council’s key zones of interest was in the catchment areas to the north, the CBD along East and West Creeks, creek systems around Tummaville and Cecil Plains and the township of Oakey.

“Perseverance has started to top, and while Cressbrook has plenty of capacity, we are watching it carefully,” he said.

Toowoomba Regional Council mayor Geoff McDonald at a press conference to announce an interim CEO, Tuesday, February 4, 2025. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“Cooby is just splashing over the edge, but it hasn’t started spilling.

“The weather seems to have started moving down to the south (so) an area of interest as is the township of Oakey.

“Modelling says (Oakey) is not an issue, but police doorknocked about 186 properties to prepare them for if it is.

“The fourth area is down to our south due to the river creek systems around Tummaville and Cecil Plains.”

Mr McDonald urged residents to keep track of road closures and other alerts on the council’s Disaster Dashboard.

In some good news, council-owned facilities, with the exception of the Highfields Library, opened at 9am on Monday.

‘Very dangerous’: Severe flood risks for Lockyer, Toowoomba

Rainfall totals across the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley regions could reach up to 130mm as heavy rain and thunderstorms threaten severe flooding risk.

The Bureau of Meteorology maintained a major flood warning alert for residents near Laidley Creek area and moderate flood warning has been issued for Lockyer Creek as Gatton recorded 102.4mm of rain since 9am this morning.

“There is a risk of seeing intense rainfall and very dangerous thunderstorms (in these areas),” Senior Meteorologist Jonathan How said.

“(Flooding risk) will depend on where we see them pop up, but the environment is still very conducive to seeing those intensive thunderstorms like what we have seen this morning to the north east of Toowoomba.”

Mr How said rain would likely ease later today and move westward towards Chinchilla

“Tomorrow, across Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley we will still see a few showers pushing through, nothing really heavy but then the area of rain and storms heads further west,” he said.

“Wednesday and Thursday we could see very isolated showers coming through but gradually getting drier and drier each day which is good news.”

From Monday morning, river levels at Laidley Creek were consistently rising with flood waters likely to remain for some time after rain ceases.

“There is a lot of water still flowing through and we are seeing creeks and rivers still responding quickly and, especially with more rainfall coming today, it is a very dynamic situation,” Mr How said.

“We will likely see more flood warnings being issued throughout today.

“(From tomorrow) we will gradually see the conditions easing but river levels can remain very high well after the rain has stopped.”

Drivers are advised to check road closures before embarking outside their homes and not to wade into existing flood waters.

Originally published as Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley flood risks: Toowoomba council, Bureau of Meteorology warns of key areas for flooding as rain continues