Qld weather: Warnings of possible 200mm deluge, major flooding as communities cut off
Severe weather warnings remain in place as 50-year flood levels inundate homes, kill cattle and cause Outback towns to be evacuated.
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The deluge that has smashed Outback Queensland communities continues on Friday, with severe weather warnings still in place after one tiny town copped 228mm in 24 hours.
People in the Channel Country, Maranoa and Warrego and the Darling Downs and Granite Belt areas have been warned of heavy rainfall on Friday that might lead to flash flooding.
Isolated falls of 130mm are possible.
It comes as an inland sea forms in the state’s west, inundating homes, forcing roads to close and causing the evacuation of one town after as much as 500mm fell in six days.
Premier David Crisafulli told the ABC on Thursday night that townships in Queensland’s west were facing huge challenges amid the ongoing flood emergency.
“There’s a lot of water in those catchments, with the prospect of a bit more rain in the next 24 hours and water coming from those catchments, some of those communities aren’t quite out of the woods just yet,” he said.
“There will be property owners who suffer significant damage, and they are going to need every bit of help to get back on their feet.”
Mr Crisafulli said concerns about the “weather mapping black hole” – the lack of a rain radar for a huge swath of the Outback – shared by Quilpie Mayor Ben Hall were echoed by other mayors at the state disaster meeting on Thursday morning.
“It’s across the board. That was repeatedly said, mayor after mayor, that they are flying blind and something does need to change,” he said.
He confirmed the state had raised the concerns to the federal government to make sure the Bureau of Meteorology “does look at investing in that”.
“At a state level we need to work with the councils to see if we can get river gauges, some improvements in those key areas. You just need to know what’s happening,” he said.
“Thargomindah is still a few days away from their flooding because it takes a long time to come through the system.
“They’re flying blind, and we absolutely need the opportunity for them to get those early warnings.
“It keeps them safe and enables them to get things to higher ground as well.”
On Wednesday, the majority of the rain fell in the north, central and southern inland parts of the state, with areas on Queensland’s north coast having seen up to 120mm, while 100-140mm was recorded in the Longreach district as a low-pressure system continues to lash the state.
The heaviest rainfall recorded since 9am on Wednesday was at Bogewong near Longreach, with 139mm, while north of Townsville, 119mm fell at Halifax, and 107mm was recorded at Lava Plains.
In the past six days, some 500mm of rain has been recorded near Quilpie – a total representing a year’s worth of rain.
More than 600mm has also fallen in recent days at Stonehenge, about 270km north of Quilpie.
Major flooding is occurring along the Thomson River at Stonehenge, which is higher than the January 1974 flood level.
We’re on the ground in Western Queensland to assist the response and ensure locals can recover. pic.twitter.com/SbtIQ1Lmr5
— David Crisafulli (@DavidCrisafulli) March 27, 2025
As of midday, the Thomson River at Stonehenge was at 7.40 metres and rising, with the river possibly to exceed 7.70 metres overnight Thursday into Friday.
Stonehenge Pub owner Grant Champion said the current flood was the largest he’d ever experienced in town.
“It’s beat the record by about f***ing half a metre, the largest ever flood we’ve had,” Mr Champion said.
“The rodeo ground is like f***ing two metres underwater, it’s just outside of town.
“Houses have been inundated with water on properties, there is a lot of dead livestock, fences and dams breaking.
“Thankfully, the pub is high and dry.”
Police declared an emergency in the outback town of Adavale at 8.15am due to significant flooding.
Adavale Town Hall has been offered as a place of refuge, with dozens of properties impacted by floodwater.
A rescue was also under way in the town of Adavale, which is being overrun by over a metre of water.
According to a Queensland Fire Department spokesman, more than 20 people are being evacuated from the outback town.
Residents that are being evacuated are being transported to the helicopter.
It is understood the person was on the veranda of their home, which is surrounded by floodwater.
Heather Hahn of Clifton Station, about 60km east of Windorah southwest of Longreach, was reeling from the floods.
“It’s quite devastating, I think the rain was welcome at first, but I think everyone’s sort of had enough of it by now,” she said.
“I think there’ll be a lot of loss and devastation from just the large amount of water that’s come in the short amount of time that it’s arrived in.”
Ms Hahn said she has been stranded in her home since Saturday, with water flowing into her yard and laundry.
“We did have water coming in, into the house yard, into the laundry, but thankfully, we were prepared and moved things that could be damaged up to higher ground,” she said.
“We haven’t experienced the same sort of damage that a lot of other people would have experienced so far,” she said.
“But we can’t get anywhere to check stock or fences, I imagine that there will be large amounts of damage when we can check.”
In an attempt to make light of the situation Ms Hahn said her daughter Brydie has embraced jumping in the puddles of water near the house.
“She has been jumping around in the water, so she was enjoying that,” Ms Hahn said.
“When the water recedes, everyone just needs to come together and help each other, because it’s going to be quite devastating for a while when people can start moving around.”
Ben Hall, the Mayor of Quilpie called for the Bureau of Meteorology to fix the “weather mapping black hole” that leaves vital graziers and farmers guessing what the weather will be.
“We are an area the size of Victoria and we are running off predictions, not having a radar is pretty low standards for what we are facing,” he said.
“There is currently no weather radar between Alice Springs and Charleville, this means that the BOM is flying blind and unable to give us any data on what’s happening.”
One farmer is already estimated to have lost thousands of livestock.
“It is going to be pretty significant,” Mr Hall said.
“We are reporting there is going to be some major losses, one person out of Eromanga is saying they could potentially lose about 3000 sheep.”
The significant rainfall brought on by the weather system has resulted in major flooding occurring across numerous rivers in Queensland, including the Paroo River, Barcoo River, Bulloo River, Thomson River, Diamantina River, Georgina River, Haughton River, as well as Cooper Creek.
Noombah Station near Stonehenge has recorded close to 600mm during this event so far, leading to devastating flooding.
Vision recorded from a helicopter shows the property, as well as four-wheel-drives, motorbikes, fencing, and yards inundated by floodwaters.
Local farmers in the area have reported that water levels are the highest they’ve ever seen, with heavy stock losses expected.
Meteorologist Helen Reid said further river rises are likely to continue with heavy rainfall.
“Severe weather warnings are also current for large parts of central and southern inland Queensland, for heavy rainfall that will lead to further flash flooding and riverine flooding,” Ms Reid said.
“Today, we’re expecting widespread 100 to 200mm of rainfall across much of central and southern inland Queensland over the coming days.
“The low-pressure system and the rain that has impacted western and central Queensland this week will slowly move east towards the southeast of Queensland in the coming days, bringing widespread rain to much of Queensland.”
The heavy rainfall has resulted in outback communities like Quilpie being isolated.
Quilpie Shire Council CEO Justin Hancock told Today he holds “significant concerns” for the rural township.
“The rainfall is just backlogging and rising unfortunately,” he said.
“We’re keeping a close eye and working with the state for those communities.”
Mr Hancock said council is working to help as many community members as possible, but said there are challenges in predicting the rain.
“We’re trying to keep in contact as much as possible,” he said.
“It’s hard to tell where the rain is falling, we don’t have weather radar systems out in this area.
“It’s exceeded the forecast, that’s for sure.
“We’ve been isolated, some communities since Sunday. We’re doing what we can to assist at this time.”
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast heavy rainfall in Brisbane for later this week and over the weekend, with daily falls up to 40mm possible on Friday and Saturday, while isolated daily totals up to 120mm are possible.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Christie Johnson said there is a chance of flash flooding in parts of Brisbane.
“On Friday it’s probably going to be in that 20 to 40mm range, but there could be some locally heavy falls up to 50 to 70mm through parts of South East Queensland,” she said.
“We could see some localised falls of 100 to 120mm.
“As the heavier rainfall moves south there is the risk of thunderstorms, so we could definitely see some localised flash flooding.”
The forecast for heavy rainfall has led to Brisbane City Council warning locals in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding to prepare, with sandbags being made available at depots including Darra, Morningside, Newmarket, Zillmere, and Lota.
Brisbane Council Deputy Mayor Fiona Cunningham said Brisbane is working to prepare.
“We’re restocking our sandbags in Brisbane and they’re available for residents who feel like they might need them,” she said.
“I understand that some residents may be nervous.”
Originally published as Qld weather: Warnings of possible 200mm deluge, major flooding as communities cut off
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