Lockyer Valley: Laidley main street flooded, mayor warns of future risks as rain continues after ex-TC Alfred

Police have spoken out against the ‘foolish’ actions of one driver that forced a swift water rescue this morning with water levels exceeding those seen in the 2022 floods. WATCH THE VIDEO.

Communities in the Lockyer Valley are on high alert for severe flooding worse than the 2022 events due to converging weather systems brought on by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which the region’s mayor say have been a “nightmare” to predict.

Lockyer Valley acting mayor Chris Wilson said at least a dozen businesses in Laidley had already been inundated along with several houses, with the Bureau of Meteorology expecting even more rain over the next 24 hours.

It comes after a woman in her 60s spent at least an hour trapped in floodwaters inside her vehicle north of Plainland at Glenore Grove.

Laidley flood

A Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said swiftwater rescue teams were called to Forest Hill Fernvale Road just before 9am on Monday, where they later pulled the woman from a car stuck in flood waters.

A Queensland Ambulance spokeswoman said the woman was in a stable condition and paramedics were still assessing her at 10.30am.

Darling Downs district disaster co-ordinator Superintendent Doug McDonald condemned the driver’s decision to put her life and the lives of others at risk.

“Despite all our messaging – it was very clear this road was flooded – a person has chosen to drive into those flood waters and the vehicle has been swept away down stream,” Superintendent McDonald said.

“Our officers were required to put their lives at risk to save that person.

“Thankfully, that person was saved and our officers were uninjured but they were at significant risk, in fact, I would say what they did was very brave in the circumstances.”

He warned those thinking of taking on flood waters to forget it.

“Do not put yourself at risk and do not put my officers and other emergency services at risk by taking foolish decisions to drive in the flood water.”

Despite this morning’s rescue, Superintendent McDonald said majority of residents were following safety directions and warnings.

“For the most part I’ve seen drivers doing the right thing, it is those few people that make foolish decisions that put us at risk and themselves of course,” he said.

The nearby community of Forest Hill is also on high alert, with the State Emergency Service deploying extra resources to the valley to assist with potential evacuations and rescues.

Superintendent McDonald 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 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 praised residents in Laidley and the wider Lockyer Valley for their valiant effort in preparing for the fallout of ex-cyclone Alfred.

“We were door knocking that particular area from the middle of the week,” he said.

“Some people have chosen to remain in place and what we’ve found with the Lockyer Valley is this isn’t an unusual event for them.

“They do have a good self-awareness about what the flood levels mean … so they make an informed assessment but we always make sure we keep them as informed as we can.

“They are a very resilient and strong community.

“As usual we are seeing incredibly good things from people pulling together to help each other out, looking out for their neighbours and making sure everyone’s safe.

He added 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.”

Rain exceeds expectations

Laidley's main street has become inundated with flood water following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Pictures by Stacy Dennis.

“The latest flood modelling that we did in the early hours of the morning predicted a moderate top level flooding and Laidley, not too much impact, but that’s now far exceeded that, which is testament to the intensity of the rain that we’ve experienced over the last six to 12 hours,” Mr Wilson said.

“The inundation in the main street of Laidley is at the point where it’s gone past the 2022 event levels and the concerning part of that is it is still pouring rain up the creek in the Laidley catchment and the creek levels haven’t dropped at all from peak levels.

“At this stage we’ve probably got about 10 to 12 businesses in Laidley with some form of inundation and probably a handful of houses as well.”

The Lockyer Valley town of Laidley has been hit by significant flooding due to the after-effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Mr Wilson said the cyclonic element of the storm systems had made forecasting for the local disaster management group difficult.

“What we’re seeing is like a convergence from rain coming from the northwest and then off the coast of the east as well,” he said.

“It’s been bizarre – so many times we’ve looked at the radar and thought, ‘okay, we’re through it here, we’ve got a break’ and next minute we just see these little cuds developing into decent systems or even storms.

“I’ve been through a few of these events now and it’s been the hardest to predict so far to model and I guess that’s the cyclonic factor added to it I suppose.

“It’s been a nightmare.”

Mr Wilson urged residents to keep track of the council’s Disaster Dashboard, saying the council was paying close attention to communities like Forest Hill and, to a lesser extent, Grantham.

The Lockyer Valley town of Laidley has been hit by significant flooding due to the after-effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

“Forest Hill is the next area of concern, so we’re going to see some flooding there as well in the low lying areas on the western side of Forest Hill,” he said.

“We’ve got the Warrego Highway cut at Glenore Grove, which might be for an extended period because it’s still raining and the catchments are full.

“Obviously we’re watching all catchments, Grantham hasn’t quite had the rain, but in saying that some of this more recent rain has been in that catchments, so it’s certainly on council’s radar.”

Business braces to see damage

After a week of preparation, the new owners of Redmond’s Pet & Livestock Supplies in Laidley are waiting for floodwaters to recede to evaluate how much damage has been caused.

Lockyer business owners Andrea and Steve Dearden, who also run the Redmond’s store in Gatton, bought the rural supply store about 5 months ago.

Mr Dearden said he was fully aware the property was in the flood zone, however the prime position at 95 Patrick St, Laidley, was too good to pass-up.

“We understand with insurance they don’t give you insurance because it’s in a flood zone but it’s in a prime location so we had to weigh up the losses with the good,” he said.

“We’ve changed things around so there’s more space to store things up high.

“We removed 90 per cent of our stock to our other storage sheds in preparation.”

The 51-year-old said they did a final run to their Laidley property about 3am on Monday morning to remove any remaining equipment and machinery.

“We’re really well prepared, we’ve spent the week preparing it,” he said.

Mr Dearden said he wasn’t sure how much damage the flood would cause to property but hoped the biggest loss would be from closing the doors for three to four business days.

“That’s the biggest impact at the moment, the loss of trade,” he said.

“We really won’t know how bad it is until the water goes down.

“There’s not much you can do about it, these things just happen, it’s just life.

“You just need to deal with it and we will reassess when the water goes down.”

He said the clean-up would cost a lot of hours and labour, but he hoped to be up and running as soon as possible.

“We’ve been offered a lot of help by the local community which has been good,” he said.

Originally published as Lockyer Valley: Laidley main street flooded, mayor warns of future risks as rain continues after ex-TC Alfred