Two people have been rescued from flood waters, as water authorities in Queensland release water from dams to manage the impact from multiple bouts of wet weather.
Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said it was a wet start to the week in southeast and eastern Queensland, causing flooding concerns and hampering the cricket Test match between Australia and India at the Gabba.
“We’ve had persistent onshore winds feeding moisture over southeast Queensland and that’s caused fairly consistent rain and thunderstorm activity,” Domensino said.
More “hit and miss” showers and thunderstorms would continue today, stretching anywhere from Townsville down to the Gold Coast, Domensino said.
Senior meteorologist Sarah Scully, from the Bureau of Meteorology, said there had been widespread rainfall totals of 80 to 100mm, particularly across the Sunshine Coast and hinterland areas.
“The grounds are so wet and sodden and the catchments so saturated that it increases the risk of both flash and riverine flooding,” she said. “Even short bursts of moderate rainfall would [lead to] quick responses in the creek and the river systems across the area.”
A moderate flood warning for the Mary River and several minor flood warnings were in place for rivers across Queensland.
A dry and gusty southerly change would start to move through southeast Queensland this afternoon, she said, shifting the wet weather into central and northern parts of the state.
Queensland water authority, Seqwater, said the watergrid was at 88% capacity after recent rainfall and inflows and it was closely monitoring and managing dam levels.
A spokesperson said water was being released from Somerset Dam into Wivenhoe Dam, which can hold an additional two million megalitres on top of its water supply storage capacity during periods of heavy rain.
They were also releasing water from North Pine and Wivenhoe dams, with ungated dams spilling excess water, the spokesperson said.
“Due to recent rainfall and inflows, 19 ungated dams are also spilling excess water and outflows may increase due to continuing rain. These are ungated dams, meaning that once they reach 100% capacity, water spills over the spillway and safely out of the dam as it is designed to do.”
The State Emergency Service has responded to about 200 callouts across Queensland since Tuesday morning, mostly for leaking roofs, sandbagging and fallen trees after the latest wet weather.
Two women were rescued from flood waters near Euthulla, about 450km northwest of Brisbane, on Tuesday night. A swift water team found them in the tray of a ute.
Elsewhere in the country, severe to extreme intensity heatwave conditions continued across much of the Northern Territory, parts of northeast Western Australia and inland Queensland, Scully said.
“Some NT locations are in the midst of seven, eight-day forecasts of 40-plus degree temperatures and overnight minimums of low 30s. So, really uncomfortable and extreme heat.”
In western Victoria, bushfires burning in the Grampians were likely started by lightning and fanned by a frontal system that moved through on Tuesday, she said. Fire danger in the state was expected to ease on Thursday, before reaching extreme levels on Friday.
Australia’s climate has warmed by 1.5C on average since national records began, according to the state of the climate report by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO.
Heavy, short-term rainfall events are becoming more intense as climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including heatwaves and extremely hot days.
With reporting by Australian Associated Press
