Gold Coast weather: Huge rainfall totals, wave heights on Gold Coast
Wild weather conditions have eased across the Gold Coast after the Hinterland was drenched by almost a metre of rain and wave heights matched the second highest on record. SEE THE FIGURES
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WILD weather conditions have eased across the Gold Coast after the Hinterland was drenched by almost a metre of rain and waves reached 11 metres – matching the second highest on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) revealed this morning upper Springbrook had been soaked by another 214 millimetres of rain since 9am yesterday. It took Springbrook’s weekly rainfall total to a whopping 967mm.
Coolangatta recorded 59mm of rainfall, Gold Coast Seaway recorded 56mm and Upper Coomera recorded 21mm since 9am yesterday.
Parts of some suburbs including Budds Beach have been inundated by flooding at high tide.
The BOM forecast conditions will ease today, but a Severe Weather Warning remains in place for southeast Queensland, alongside a minor flood warning for the Logan River.
“A complex surface low and associated trough are moving across southeast Queensland. This system will continue to track south-westward into NSW while weakening today,” the BOM states.
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“Abnormally high tides exceeding the highest tide of the year are once again expected on this morning’s high tide.
“Locations which may be affected include Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Moreton Island, North Stradbroke Island and Fraser Island.”
An 80 per cent chance of showers has been forecast for the Coast and light winds of 15-25kmh are expected in the morning before easing late in the evening.
It’s possible low lying coastal areas will see some flooding and the BOM has warned of dangerous surf conditions.
Gold Coast City Council has closed beaches again today and warned people to stay out of the water and to be mindful of debris which had washed ashore.
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Waste and recycling centres reopened as usual, with the exception of Reedy Creek, which was expected to open at midday.
Meanwhile, a Queensland Government wave monitoring buoy recorded wave heights of 11m off the Coast yesterday morning.
It’s equal with the second highest waves recorded since monitoring began in the late 80s.
The largest ever wave heights recorded were 12m on May 3, 1996, while the Coast also recorded 11m wave heights on March 17, 1993.
Some beaches have been affected by fairly serious scarping and Duranbah may have been the worst affected, with about 2m eroded from sand dunes.
Flash flooding was reported across the city, accompanied by winds of up to 80kmh.
Houseboats have sunk in the Gold Coast Seaway and tinnies have also gone down or been washed ashore.
There were indications yesterday the wild weather would continue and the city could be hit with another deluge of up to 300m today, but conditions have calmed.
The Seaway saw 28mm of rain between 9am and 4pm yesterday, while Upper Springbrook received a whopping 102mm in the same time frame.
Budds Beach cafe Bumbles continued business as normal today and owner Kate Madison said the venue was used to the floodwater.
“This often happens around this time of year. The foreshore was built in the 50s and wasn’t designed for the large rainfall we can experience,” Ms Madison said, who has owned the Surfers Paradise business for almost 21 years.
“The large amount of water comes out of the stormwater pipes and floods the streets, but the buildings aren’t in danger.
“People always talk about venues on the water and once a year we are one. We’re like Venice for a short period.”
Floodwater lapping at the doors of Cubby Bakehouse in Chinderah has not stopped residents lining up for their morning coffee and warm almond croissant.
Owner Ursulla Watts said customers were still happily sitting at outdoor tables despite being submerged in floodwater.
“Customers haven’t stopped all day. We kept serving at the height of the floodwater and water is dripping and the customers keep coming,” she said.
“The water came up the front of the shop front by 30cm but didn’t go inside.”
Mayor Tom Tate worried about a high tide at 9am today and said the council was preparing for the worst.
He said the council was conducting flood modelling to ensure it was ready to deploy staff in the event evacuations were required.
“It’s a watching brief,” he said yesterday.
“The city’s holding up well, but it’s not over yet.”
Thankfully, the city appears to have dodged that bullet thanks to calmer conditions.
Cr Tate said three years of planning to prevent erosion meant beaches, which remained closed yesterday, had held up well and there was relatively little scarping.
He also warned barriers could be placed on roads prone to flash flooding if motorists continued to drive through the areas on Tuesday.
“Even if the rain dies down a little bit (Tuesday) morning, the build-up of rainfall with the holding partners means there could be flash flooding,” he said.
“We don’t want to have to deploy SES to someone who is where they shouldn’t be.”
The major areas of concern for flooding yesterday were Tallebudgera Creek and Currumbin Creek, according to the Mayor.
State Opposition leader David Crisafulli said yesterday: “My biggest concern and the message I want to ram home is the potential for flash flooding still lies ahead.”
“My message to people is please think about what you’re doing. Depth of water can hide what is beneath,” he warned.
A Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) spokesman predicted yesterday the rain would ease today.
“The worse conditions look to be in the morning with showers and winds still predicted but things are expected to ease in the evening,” he said.
“Low-lying coastal areas could see flooding caused from Tuesday’s predicted high tide and the amount of rain those areas have witnessed the last three days.”
The BOM spokesperson said the wet weather was being caused by a coastal trough and low pressure system off the coast.
“It’s all happening quite sporadically,” he said.
“It’s happening on the Sunshine Coast then on the Gold Coast and then Brisbane.
“The focus will continue to shift south over the coming day and into tomorrow, as this trough and low pressure system moves south.”
Thousands of Gold Coast residents were without power yesterday morning, mainly in Southport, Labrador and the Hinterland, with severe weather continuing to hit the city following a wet weekend.
The outages cut power to traffic lights at a number of busy junctions.
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Gold Coast City Council set up sandbagging stations in Pimpama, Bilinga and Burleigh Heads, which distributed 2000 sandbags on Sunday and were open again yesterday.
Storm swell battered the windows at the Gold Coast’s most oceanfront restaurant, Rick Shores at Burleigh.
Owner Nick Woodward said floodproofing from the restaurant’s last renovation had proved its worth.
“We put complete faith in our strengthened windows this time due to the favourable swell direction and they handled it incredibly,” he said.
“We had a fair bit of water and sand creep through from every angle but were able to clean once the high tide and swell finally subsided (yesterday) morning.
“If the weather forecast is accurate, we’ll be back open as normal Tuesday.”
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