Townsville weather: Bruce Highway blocked between Ingham and Cardwell due to flooding
A section of the Bruce Highway has closed after heavy rainfall over parts of NQ. LATEST>
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Queensland Police Service have confirmed that a truck overturned in floodwaters blocking the Bruce Highway between Ingham and Cardwell overnight.
Ingham Police said they were aware of the vehicle, which appears to have tipped unsuccessfully attempting to navigate the flooded Seymour River at Bemerside, just south of the Cardwell Ranges.
Police say they are still investigating the incident but there have been no reports of injuries.
The highway is officially closed at the location, with floodwaters also encroaching over the Bruce at the notorious S-bend at Gairloch Washaway just north of Ingham, although not officially closed.
Truckies left stranded in Ingham are furious at the state of the oft-criticised Bruce Highway, particularly the flood-prone section of the road north of Ingham.
Darren, a trucker with his current company for 26 years, drives Brisbane to Cairns every week.
He said “you don’t want to get me started” when asked on his thoughts of the Bruce Highway, in general.
“I’m being brutally honest, it’s crap, it’s just very poorly maintained and I’m sick of hearing people saying ‘oh, it’s the weather’, the weather is the same up here (North Queensland) every time of the year,” he said.
“It rains, monsoon season, cyclones, so it’s not going to change.”
He said he had been left stranded in Ingham due to the severed highway about five times in recent years.
“We’ve heard that money is supposed to be put away with it and it hasn’t come through,” he said.
“If you go over to the Mitre 10 there (across the road), you’ll probably see bigger pipe in there than is under that highway up there.”
The Department of Transport and Main Roads have been contacted for comment.
The latest road closures and criticism of the much-maligned Bruce Highway follow News Corp Queensland’s highly successful Help Our Highway campaign.
The campaign was launched in April 2004 across our Queensland network with the exclusive revelation that almost half the Bruce Highway had been officially assessed as failing basic safety ratings.
The Courier Mail editor Chris Jones said the aim of the initiative was simple: “that the entire highway be brought up to a minimum three-star safety rating, a pass mark.”
He said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced in January this year that it would almost be doubling federal funding for the Bruce from $9.8bn to $17bn.
The State Government had also subsequently committed $1.8 billion to the extra $7.2 billion from the Federal Government, he said.
‘No surprise’: Bruce Highway shut as tropical low strengthens
A deluge has forced Queensland Police to close the Bruce Highway after a river just north of Ingham flooded, blocking the road.
The Seymour River has flooded across the Bruce causing the closure of the highway between Ingham and Cardwell, with police advising motorists to take an alternative route and avoid floodwaters.
Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto said that it was ‘no surprise’ the Bruce Highway has been brought to a standstill, due to the failure to progress with floodproofing upgrades.
“The Gairloch project, which includes the Seymour crossing, has been sitting on the QTRIP (Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program) for over a decade,” Mr. Dametto said.
He labelled the closure an “absolute travesty” with freight trucks grinding to a halt after “standard wet-season rain”
“This is not a one-off. It’s a predictable, recurring problem that’s constantly ignored by Government’s based in Brisbane,” he said.
“The fact that, 10 years later, we’re still waiting for meaningful progress is an insult to every North Queenslander who relies on the highway.”
The warning and for severe weather in the Herbert and Lower Burdekin was cancelled on Wednesday morning, but Townsville will still receive heavy rainfall into the rest of the week, with up to 50mm expected on Thursday and up to 40mm on Friday.
The latest warning from the Bureau of Meteorology on Wednesday morning warned of a surface low lying of the north-east of Cairns, alongside a ridge of high pressure further south to push rain offshore.
The BOM advised heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding over areas between Cardwell and the northern beaches of Cairns and towards the Tablelands.
Between 130mm and 180mm of rain is possible.
A tropical low has formed off Cairns and is expected to strengthen over the next two days, with a ten per cent chance of becoming a cyclone by Friday, rising to 25 per cent by Saturday.
On Tuesday warnings stretched from Babinda to just north of Townsville, covering Ingham, Cardwell, Mission Beach, Innisfail, and Tully. Isolated 24-hour totals of rainfall were estimated to be between 200mm to 300mm were possible.
BOM keeps an eye on tropical lows
Authorities are keeping watch on two tropical lows already dumping large rainfall totals across North Queensland potentially strengthening into our first cyclone of the season.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said the severe weather warning from south of Cairns to Rollingstone north of Townsville was in effect until late Wednesday morning, driven by a low in the Coral Sea.
“We are seeing very moist onshore flow at the moment, coming in from the ocean bringing really, really high moisture levels in and directing it at the coast,” she said.
“It’s kind of pushing itself up against the ranges and feeding into any showers and storms that develop; this easterly flow has been ongoing for a few days already and is certainly likely to continue not just today but through tomorrow and much of the week as well.”
‘Tropical Low 13U’ already hovering over North Queensland has a 25% (moderate) chance of developing into cyclone strength from Saturday night.
A second system, dubbed ‘Tropical Low 16U’ and sitting further east, has a 30% (moderate) chance of reaching cyclone strength from Monday morning.
Authorities are warning that heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding is possible overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday morning between Gordonvale and Rollingstone with six-hourly totals between 130 and 180mm possible.
More isolated totals of 200 to 300mm were possible, the BOM warned.
Flood watches are in place for some parts of North Queensland, including Palm Island, Ingham, Innisfail, Cardwell, Abergowrie and Lucinda.
Catchments at risk of flooding include the Johnstone River, Tully River, Murray River and Herbert River.
Some parts of the region have experienced significant rainfall overnight, including 117mm in the three hours to 3.15am at Rita Island, near Ayr.
Jarvisfield State School, near Rita Island, has been forced to close for the day due to localised flooding.
Rollingstone has received 120mm since 9am Monday, and Paluma Dam has received 111mm in the same time frame.
At Gairloch, there has been 170mm of rain since 9am Monday and 121mm at Trebonne in the same time period.
In the latest developments, the Department of Main Roads advised at 1.30pm that surface flooding had covered the Gairloch section of the highway.
TMR issued a warning that “if it’s flooded, forget it” but the highway remains open.
BOM senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said the severe weather warning from south of Cairns to Rollingstone north of Townsville was in effect for the remainder of Tuesday and Wednesday, driven by a low in the Coral Sea.
“We are seeing very moist onshore flow at the moment, coming in from the ocean bringing really, really high moisture levels in and directing it at the coast,” she said on Tuesday.
“It’s kind of pushing itself up against the ranges and feeding into any showers and storms that develop; this easterly flow has been ongoing for a few days already and is certainly likely to continue not just today but through tomorrow and much of the week as well.”
The severe weather warning was officially for the North Tropical Coast and Hinchinbrook was updated just before 11am.
Emergency services advise people to:
• Park your car undercover away from trees
• Close doors and windows
• Keep asthma medications close by. Storms and wind can trigger asthma attacks
• Charge mobile phones and power banks in case the power goes out
• Put your pets somewhere safe and make sure they can be identified in case they get lost
• Do not drive now unless you have to because conditions are dangerous
• Tell friends, family and neighbours in the area
• Go inside a strong building now. Stay inside until the storm has passed
Prepare now, residents urged
Before wild weather hits, you should make every effort to prepare yourself and your family and pets by having your emergency kit stocked and ready to go.
Your cyclone kit should include enough supplies for all members of your family to survive for at least three days.
Take the time to discuss what you and your family will do in the event of a disaster or emergency situation. Prepare your emergency plan ahead of time. Then, if an emergency threatens, you will know how to best respond.
Keep an eye on Townsville City Council’s Disaster dashboard for warnings and helpful guides including a checklist for your emergency kits.
Deeragun, Magnetic Island experience power blackouts
Over 1000 homes in Deeragun are without power this afternoon, joining 863 Magnetic Island customers waiting in the dark for an Ergon fix.
Deeragun residents reported their power going out around 2.20pm as a rain shower passed over the area.
According to Ergon, the cause of the 1149-home outage is unknown but it is suspected weather damage is to blame.
Ergon crews have been deployed to the area to start ‘fault finding’ to locate the issue and start emergency repairs.
Deeragun wasn’t the only Townsville suburb experiencing power loss on the Australia Day public holiday – 863 homes on Magnetic Island were also in the dark for about one hour.
The Nelly Bay and Picnic Bay outage started around 2pm and was also caused by a tree branch falling onto powerlines.
An Ergon crew was able to remove the branch and restore power within 25 minutes of the outage occurring.
Both blackouts come as roving rain showers move slowly across the Townsville area.
If anyone has seen or heard anything they can report it to Ergon on 13 22 96.
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Originally published as Townsville weather: Bruce Highway blocked between Ingham and Cardwell due to flooding
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