South-east Queensland is bracing for another day of heavy rain and possible flash flooding as the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warns the weather system that was predicted to dissipate will dump more rain over saturated areas.The severe weather system has prompted residents in the Gympie and Warwick regions to prepare to evacuate as some face inundation for the second time in recent months.Emergency alerts were issued for residents in the Gympie and Scenic Rim regions on Friday as heavy rain inundated already saturated catchments.It comes amid a growing list of emergency weather warnings , including severe weather, major flooding and hazardous surf alerts.In Agnes Water, a woman in her 30s who gave birth was flown to hospital on Friday evening.Agnes Water has been cut off from the rest of the Gladstone region by floodwaters that have inundated major roads and highways in the area.The woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl shortly before the Capricorn Rescue helicopter landed on the oval to retrieve the patients.”The on-board medical team assessed both mother and newborn who were then flown to Gladstone Hospital for further observation,” a spokesperson said.
Both Tableland Road and Fingerboard Road remain closed.Emergency services minister Mark Ryan said on Saturday that although weather conditions were easing in south-east Queensland, the region is not “out of the woods yet”.”There is some significant risks around those river catchments and also in coastal areas,” he said.”So I’m pleading with everyone: although it look like the rain might be stopping for the moment or easting at the moment, please keep your kids out of rivers and creeks.” Acting state disaster coordinator Shane Chelepy said the Queensland disaster management system is still activated across parts of the state.The SES responded to almost 120 calls for help overnight.More than half the calls for help came from the North Coast region.Nine adults and nine children were evacuated from Pomona State School by swiftwater rescue crews yesterday afternoon.Further inland, four people isolated by floodwaters were boated to safety at Warwick, and a woman stranded in her car was rescued by swiftwater technicians at Laidley.
In Brisbane, a man was rescued from the roof of his car in floodwaters at Brookfield last night.In Far North Queensland, three people were airlifted to safety early this morning after their car was stuck in floodwaters west of Cairns.
In the Lockyer Valley, hundreds of residents in Laidley and Grantham had water on their properties, prompting eight evacuation centres to open in the region.Businesses in the Laidley CBD were inundated and homes threatened as the main road to the town was cut off.BOM forecaster Matt Collopy said rainfall levels dropped overnight, as 10 to 20 millimetres of rain came down over the south-east region.
“That easing trend is good news and it will continue to move through today,” he said.Another 10 to 20mm of rain is expected on Saturday, with isolated falls of up to 40 millimetres in some areas.”Whilst that is good news, we still have major flooding across multiple river systems across the south-east and through the interior of Queensland,” he said.
“So we plead with people to keep up to date with warnings.” All beaches in south-east Queensland are closed as there is risk of dangerous surf and coastal erosion due to strong easterly winds and large swells.Gympie residents are urged to keep an eye on messaging from emergency service as the Mary River is still rising and moderate flood levels are expected.”It is expected that the town bridge may divide the town again to the south, so we’ve pre-positioned our emergency services and our disaster management capability to both sides of the town,” Mr Chelepy said.”We are expecting some minor impacts to businesses in the CBD … we are not expecting any significant impacts particularly to dwellings in the Gympie area.” More than 70 roads around the town are cut, including the Bruce Highway to Brisbane.
Parks, football fields and low-lying roads are under water.The Mary River expected to peak later today at about 16 metres.The prediction has prompted several low-lying businesses on the main street to begin preparing to evacuate.A community recovery hub has been opened on Mellor Street.”Downstream on the Mary River, Tiaro and Maryborough, we don’t have predictions there yet so we will see what the rainfall does and see what happens at Gympie as well,” Ms Boekel said.In the state’s south east, the town of Warwick has been cut off by floodwaters.The swollen Condamine River, which was dropping by Saturday morning.
The Condamine River in Warwick peaked at around 3pm on Friday and is currently falling.Eighty-seven buildings were affected by the Condamine flooding and 49 people remain in places of shelter in the area.Floodwaters through the Lockyer Valley are starting to ease back, and emergency services are hoping to gain access to Laidley’s town centre by this afternoon.Creeks in the Grantham and Lockyer Valley area are stabilising, and two people remained in a place of shelter this morning.In other parts of the Southern Downs, floodwaters have receded, showing major damage to roads and bridges.
The Brisbane River peaked at 1.61 metres at 8am on Saturday morning’s high tide, just below the minor flood level of 1.7 metres.At 11am the river level was 1.11 metre and falling with the tide.”This is different from the previous event [in February] in that we were forecasting moderate to major flooding in Brisbane,” she said.”However, I keep saying this is an evolving situation, so while the most likely scenario is minor in the Brisbane River, we really want people to be across the warnings and the forecast and stay up to date.” Ms Boekel said creeks around Brisbane were responding “very rapidly” to a lot less rainfall, prompting flash flooding amid “intense pockets of rainfall”..