Brisbane turns out for Anzac Day after storms disrupt services in south-east

Thousands of Queenslanders have turned out for Anzac Day despite the wet weather, lining the streets of Brisbane to pay tribute to former and current armed forces personnel.

Premier David Crisafulli began the day in the nation’s garrison city of Townsville, in north Queensland.

The turnout there, as well as in Brisbane, showed how important Anzac Day is, he said.

Crowds turn out along Adelaide Street for Brisbane’s Anzac Day parade.Credit: William Davis

“Over the years there’s been people that have questioned its longevity, and it’s defied it year on year,” he told AAP.

“For the crowds to turn out with inclement weather across a large portion of the state just shows you everything you need to know.”

In Brisbane, an EA-18 Growler roared overhead, in one of several flyovers across the state, and Governor Jeannette Young addressed the public at the beginning of the parade.

Earlier on Friday, the ashes of veterans who had recently died were given a ceremonial burial at sea at Elephant Rock on the Gold Coast, as the location was illuminated in poppy red.

Several thousand people attended the dawn service near the NSW border on Friday to mark the 110th anniversary of Australian and New Zealand forces making their landing at Gallipoli in Turkey.

Attendees paid their respects standing on the edge of dunes after damage to beaches caused by Cyclone Alfred.

Choppy waters fuelled by rain overnight lapped the car park near to where Friday’s service was taking place.

A roll call of veterans who have died echoed around the beach as inflatable rescue boats moved into strong waves off the shore, and oars were raised into the air to pay respects to the fallen.

Children from the local surf lifesaving club stood with a choir as the Australian and New Zealand national anthems culminated the service.

While the commemorations in Brisbane and Elephant Rock went ahead, several others across south-east Queensland were forced to cancel after a night of heavy storms.

The worst hit areas had more than 230 millimetres of rainfall.

Heavy storms lashed Brisbane from about 5am, and north of the city, two people were struck by lightning and taken to hospital with minor injuries.

“We saw some very slow and intense thunderstorms in the early hours of the morning,” meteorologist Christie Johnson said on Friday morning.

“It is an improving trend. There are still some showers and possible still some storms around … that risk of severe storms is really decreasing now.”

Flood releases began at Wivenhoe and Somerset early in the morning, with the latter at more than 90 per cent capacity.

With AAP

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