Flood warnings across Queensland as low-pressure system moves south

A flood watch was in place for most of Queensland on Monday as rainfall blanketed Brisbane and a low-pressure system travelled south.

Overnight on Sunday, 70 millimetres of rain was recorded in the city’s north and between 40 and 50 millimetres on the southside, said the Bureau of Meteorology’s Helen Reid.

The meteorologist said the persistent rain prompted flood-watch warnings for rivers across the south-east, including the Albert, Lower Brisbane, Pine and Caboolture, and rivers and creeks on the Sunshine Coast.

A moderate flood warning was in place for the Upper Brisbane River and Stanley River, and river levels at Gregor Creek and Woodford were being monitored.

North of Brisbane, communities in central Queensland and the Wide Bay region were warned to brace for riverine flooding overnight on Monday.

River levels were expected to exceed seven metres near Maryborough, about 260 kilometres north of Brisbane.

An emergency alert, issued shortly before 4pm on Monday, said moderate flooding was likely for the Burrum and Cherwell Rivers, and winds in the region could reach up to 120km/h.

On Sunday evening, the warning for the Burnett River in the South Burnett region had been upgraded to a major flood warning.

Major flooding was expected to occur at Dunollie and Brian Pastures, and was possible at Mundubbera, Gayndah, Stonelands and Walla.

Rainfall in the Burnett reached almost 250 millimetres in some areas and some areas had more than 100 millimetres recorded in just six hours overnight.

The highest rainfall recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Monday was 245 millimetres at Brovinia, followed by 221 millimetres at Ban Ban. Both are in the Burnett.

Further west, rainfall at Miles exceeded 200 millimetres since Saturday morning. Even further out, a major flood warning is now in place for the Warrego River.

Flooding is expected to occur at Augathella progressively over the next two days, and may exceed the major flood level by Wednesday.

Showers were forecast to ease on Tuesday. “Today’s the last day of the higher rainfall totals,” Reid said on Monday morning.

“We’ll still get some showers coming through tomorrow, but it’ll be just like nuisance factor in comparison. Just a couple of millimetres and then not looking like anything else other than just the occasional shower.

“The trough line and the upper atmosphere will be shifting over towards offshore, and that’ll mean that’ll take the rainfall with it, so we’ll just have a couple of showers just drifting in from the coastline a little bit more in a regular fashion.”

The south-east would then have a period of dry weather before showers were forecast to return by the weekend, but “nothing as wet as what we’ve got at the moment”, Reid said.

The Sunshine Coast experienced greater rainfall, with about 100 millimetres in the past 24 hours. More than 30 roads in the region were closed.

There were several rescues from floodwater overnight in areas including South Burnett, Leafdale, Murgon, Gympie and Chinchilla.

A boy and an adult were pulled from a car in floodwaters along The Causeway at Kelly’s Beach in Bargara about 7.40am. They were uninjured.

A woman was also rescued from the roof of her car after she was swept away in floodwater on Bald Knob Road in Peachester.

“[She] ended up with her car going into the floodwater,” swift water rescue crew member Matthew Bruce said.

“Did the right thing, wound down the windows, got herself out when her car became flooded and then was swept off the causeway and she managed to get herself onto the roof of the car and call Triple Zero.

“We really urge all people on the road to take extra care. Remember the old adage: ‘if it’s flooded, forget it’. It’s much safer to turn around.”

Premier David Crisafulli said he was grateful for the safety of all those who required assistance overnight, and urged people to act carefully.

“People should know the impact it puts on their own family ... but also think about it through the eyes of those emergency services personnel,” he said.

“They’ve got loved ones too, and anything you can do to stay out of harm’s way helps everyone.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.