Australian defence force personnel will be deployed across storm-hit south-east Queensland, as rain continues to pummel the country’s saturated east coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology on Tuesday warned of potentially life-threatening flooding, with alerts stretching from Maryborough in Queensland down to the northern rivers in New South Wales. Some areas can anticipate up to 300mm of rain, after more than 500mm fell on parts of the Gold Coast in 48 hours over the new year.
A flood watch was issued for Queensland’s Capricornia and south-east coast regions late Monday evening. Moderate flooding had hit the Logan and Albert rivers, and flood warnings were also in place for the Nerang, Coomera and Paroo rivers.
The Queensland minister for fire and disaster recovery, Nikki Boyd, said there had been 20 swift water rescues conducted since 5am Monday, and urged people to stay safe.
“We’ve seen very significant falls overnight and there’s more to come, from Maryborough to the border. We expect up to 350mm of rain to continue.
“It’s a very dangerous forecast that we are facing over the next 24 hours and for many people who are in or around those waterways, we’re asking them to be particularly cautious.”
On Monday evening 44 people were rescued from a campground that had been inundated with flood water in the Gold Coast hinterland. One person was transported to hospital with minor injuries.
The state’s SES had received more than 700 calls in the last 24 hours, with nearly 5,000 calls received since Christmas.
“With these bursts of intense rainfall, the rivers and creeks are rising extremely quickly and catching people unaware,” the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services deputy commissioner, Kevin Walsh, told ABC News.
Gold Coast theme parks, including Movie World, Wet ‘n’ Wild, Dreamworld and Whitewater World, closed on Tuesday due to the downpour.
In northern New South Wales, rescuers responded to at least 115 incidents in 24 hours triggered by storms and flooding. Crews had completed 27 rescues in the northern rivers region since Monday although no significant injuries had been reported, the NSW State Emergency Service said.
More that 300mm of rain had fallen at Limpinwood in the Tweed Valley, while falls exceeding 200mm had caused flash flooding at other locations.
Minor to moderate riverine flooding occurred on the Tweed, Wilsons and Richmond rivers, with the most significant impact at Tumbulgum.
The NSW SES assistant commissioner, Dean Storey, said while the intense rain experienced on Monday wasn’t expected to recur, the risk was not over.
“Catchments in and around the northern rivers continue to see the impacts of significant rainfall over the past 24 to 48 hours, and we’re expecting flood warnings to continue across the region,” he said.
About 50 ADF personnel and high-clearance vehicles will be deployed to the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan City council areas, focused on clearing debris to enable better access to essential infrastructure, the federal emergency management minister, Murray Watt, announced.
The deployment is in addition to 70 Disaster Relief Australia personnel announced in recent days.
“The reason for activating ADF personnel now is that … the compounding effect of this heavy rainfall and flooding on the damage that we’d already seen with the storms meant that frankly, Queensland did need a bit of a hand with extra resources and they were brave enough to ask,” Watt said.
Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said this was “a good start”.
“Let’s see the assessment and then let’s see what sort of equipment we can incorporate with that,” he said.
“I’d imagine that number will increase ... but once they’re on the ground we’ll make a recovery plan.”
Daniel Hayes, community information officer at the Bureau of Meteorology, said 300mm of rainfall had hit parts of the Gold Coast in the last 24 hours, while Cedar Creek received 307mm.
“Widespread rain of up to 200mm is expected to fall “in addition to the big falls we saw … yesterday,” Hayes said.
Rainfall had also picked up around the Sunshine Coast this morning, with the rain system moving north towards southern parts of the Wide Bay-Burnett region, Hayes said.
