Severe storm warning, flash flooding risk as Gold Coast suburbs drenched with heavy rain

The Bureau of Meteorology is under fire again for not warning Gold Coast residents about the heavy deluge overnight. Read the latest.

Charlton Hart, Keith Woods and Mohammad Alfares

3 min read

February 16, 2024 - 5:34PM

Gold Coast Bulletin

Car abandoned in floodwater at Siganto Drive in Helensvale

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The Bureau of Meteorology has been blasted again for failing to give Gold Coast residents adequate warning ahead of a severe weather event.

A coastal trough battered the city overnight on Thursday and into Friday morning, with some suburbs recording well over a metre of rain within the space of a few hours.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate slammed the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and its forecasters, saying council was not properly informed ahead of the deluge.

“They said expect rainfall of 20 millimetres,” Mr Tate said.

“Then it comes back, oh expect rainfall of 35, and then it comes back, oh you’re going to hit 100.

“Well mate why didn’t you just tell us we were going to hit 100 first up?”

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate slams BOM of lack of weather warnings.

The weather bureau’s Daniel Hayes on Friday, responding to community outrage over the lack of warnings, said the coastal trough formed without warning.

“The expectation was there (on Thursday) that we would have an upper-level trough coming through and there would be some shower and storm activity with it, but the formation of the coastal trough overnight is why we’ve seen those heavy totals,” Mr Hayes said.

“There was really intense rain in the six hours from 1am to 7am, with widespread falls up to 150mm. It eased after that, but still continued to add to the totals.”

In December Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate took the Bureau to task over its warning system when homes were destroyed and thousands were left without power for days after a freak cyclonic storm tore through with little warning.

The Mayor has again called for a rethink of the current technology and forecasting systems.

“They need to look at any other software that can give them more accurate modelling. I’m blunt about that.”

Campervan rolls near busy Gold Coast shopping Centre. Picture: Supplied

A campervan lost control and slid from the road before crashing through a fence on the northern Gold Coast on Friday.

The occupants of the Isuzu ute managed to free themselves from the vehicle after it rolled off Dreamworld Parkway near Helensvale and landed on the passenger’s side door.

A female was assessed by paramedics when they arrived shortly after lunchtime on Friday. She suffered minor injuries and was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital.

Police had to close the road near the busy Helensvale Homeworld Shopping Centre as two truck operators worked to retrieve the car.

Around the same time, emergency services also responded to a truck and car collision near Quarry Road in Stapylton.

Two adults and three children sustained minor injuries from the crash and were taken to Gold Coast University Hospital.

A black Ute flipped on its roof on Smith Street in Arundel amid wild weather on Friday. Picture: Supplied

Car abandoned in floodwater at Siganto Drive in Helensvale. Picture: Keith Woods.

Some Gold Coast suburbs saw nearly half a month’s worth of rain in only a few hours in the deluge on Thursday night. More than 130mm bucketed down at Oxenford, while 103mm fell at Coombabah. Heavy rainfall also battered Pacific Pines, Wongawallan, Coomera Shores, Hotham Creek and Norwell, with each receiving more than 80mm.

The downpour also saw more than 1000 homes and businesses left without power across Helensvale, Parkwood, Oxenford and Pacific Pines.

On Thursday morning, the outage affected traffic lights at a busy intersection on the Gold Coast Highway near Discovery Drive in Helensvale.

Police highway patrol officers directed traffic at the scene.

Radar image of rain from a coastal trough looming over SEQ. Picture: Windy (10:00am).

Current warning area at risk of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology

Mr Hayes said the trough system was expected to clear by Saturday morning, but it would leave behind a humid air mass with a possibility of light showers.

“That upper level trough is expected to clear through and once that does pass we’ll be left with generally the humid air mass, but we will still have the onshore flow of the high pressure along the coast, meaning we will still be looking at showers through the weekend.”

WORST SINCE 2022 FLOODS: 165MM DELUGE SMASHES BRISBANE