Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the intense weather hitting the southeast of the state was “like an unpredictable cyclone”.
Hundreds of schools will be closed on Monday, people have been told to work from home and floodwaters are expected to linger for several days.
At a briefing just after 3pm on Sunday (4pm AEDT), Ms Palaszcuzk said the “rain bomb” was expected to linger for hours before starting to move south on Monday morning.
“No one expected this rain bomb to sit on the southeast of our state for such a long time,” she said.
“It’s like an unpredictable cyclone and these are levels that we never expected or could have ever predicted.”
The Bureau of Meteorology issued its most severe thunderstorm warning for “intense rain” from two systems over the southeast of the state.
A BoM spokeswoman said the storms were mainly concentrated in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and surrounding areas. The rainfall intensity was “unbelievably fast and unbelievably fast”.
“We didn’t expect this rain, this rain bomb is just relentless. It’s not a waterfall, it’s like waves of water,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the federal government has activated disaster recovery payments of $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child to support those affected.
Payments will be available to residents of Gympie and North Burnett local government areas from Monday, but are expected to be made more widely available as more areas are declared disaster areas.
- Death toll now at six, including one SES volunteer
- Flooded houses from Brisbane to Ipswich and up to Grantham and also north to Gympie
- Gympie’s Mary River peaked at 22.8m, the highest level since 1893
- Schools will be closed on Monday, people urged to work from home
- People asked to conserve drinking water, with the impact of the treatment plant
- Floods predicted for the next three to five days
Earlier, Ms Palaszczuk asked millions of people in the southeast of the state to stay at home.
“If you live in South East Queensland, please stay home this afternoon with a severe weather warning stream,” Ms Palaszczuk said on Twitter.
“This is an extraordinary weather event and it needs to be treated very seriously. I urge everyone to stay off the roads, stay home if it’s safe to do so, and call for peace. help if you need it.”
Ms Palaszczuk said dangerous storms were expected to continue.
“The Bureau of Meteorology warns that very dangerous thunderstorms have been detected on weather radar near Brisbane CBD and Strathpine. These thunderstorms are slow moving. Very dangerous thunderstorms are expected to affect Caboolture, Highvale and Aspley.”
Earlier, an evacuation order was issued for the Gympie area, which has been deemed a disaster declaration area as life-threatening flooding continues to hit parts of the state.
Evacuation centers reached capacity overnight and Gympie Council is looking at other ways to help shelter those affected.
A number of residents on the south side of Gympie were evacuated and brought to the north side.
“We have about 550 people in the Gympie Evacuation Center and a total of 1,040 statewide,” Ms. Palaszczuk said.
“We had never really experienced so much rain in such a short time before.
“It’s literally a rain bomb laid all over SEQ (South East Queensland).”
“If it’s flooded, forget it.
“There is a lot of rain there.
“Our streams and rivers are saturated and they all flow into our main river system.”
Electricity shortages and lack of diesel plague Gympie.
“This episode of rain, as I said, is moving south, so we all have to listen to what’s going to happen over the next 24 hours,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
It comes as the current level of South East Queensland’s water system reaches 98 per cent capacity, an increase of around 10 per cent in the past 24 hours.
Earlier, residents of Brisbane were warned to be on high alert.
“We expect there to be 1,413 homes that will be impacted above floors at this point,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Affected residents may also be eligible to receive a $900 relief payment for families of five or more.
“The focus now remains on Brisbane and the Gold Coast,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“We are seeing widespread widespread precipitation, very high precipitation totals and very intense precipitation.
“And it’s this intense rainfall that can lead to flash flooding, especially since our rivers and watersheds are incredibly saturated.”
All Brisbane residents and residents up to Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay are also urged to conserve drinking water until issues with the Mt Crosby water treatment facility can be resolved after the arrival of debris.
Man dies after car is swept away
He tried to swim to safety, but nearby residents contacted emergency services when they saw he hadn’t come out of the water.
Authorities then located the man’s body a short time later.
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
Noosa under major flood warning
Noosa, on Queensland’s southern Sunshine Coast, is under a major flood warning.
The Noosa River breached its banks causing severe flooding in the area.
“It’s sad, very sad. Businesses are closed and there will be damage,” a Noosa resident told 9News.
Travel to and from Noosa and the Sunshine Coast is difficult as the Bruce Highway, which connects the area to Brisbane, is flooded.
Parts of the highway collapsed under the impact of the deluge.
Flood warning for northern New South Wales
Flood warnings are in place for northern New South Wales as severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are forecast for the next few hours.
Between 200 mm and 300 mm are provided for the region.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said there were at least 11 flood warnings in place across the state.
“We have an evacuation warning in the Clarence River…and on top of that a wind evacuation order,” Mr Perrottet said.
“My strong message today for people in these areas is to follow the instructions.
“We know that while we may have blue skies in parts of NSW, that doesn’t mean there won’t be significant flooding during this week.
“So please, please don’t be complacent.”
The areas most in demand are the central coast and northern New South Wales.
“Locally intense rainfall causing dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is possible with thunderstorms beginning Sunday afternoon,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“Heavy rain increases the potential for landslides and debris on roads.”
Evacuation orders are in place for Tweed communities.
NSW State Emergency Services (SES) fear the region could see water levels rise to those seen in 2017 during devastating floods.
More severe precipitation forecast
Dangerous and life-threatening flooding is expected to continue across much of southeast Queensland, which has been inundated with severe flooding since Wednesday.
The Bureau of Meteorology says intense rains and thunderstorms will continue to flood the area.
But hope to “see relief sooner tomorrow”.
“Relief will come in the early hours of Monday morning. But we can expect to see this rainy event continue today and well into the night as well.”
Severe thunderstorm warnings are in place for areas such as Gympie, Kin Kin, Tin Can Bay, Redcliffe and Moreton Bay.
Several emergency alerts are also in place in Logan, Ipswich, Cooby Creek, Beachmere and Noosa.
The Cooby Damn at Cooby Creek has started to spread and properties in the area are expected to be impacted by floodwaters.
In Ipswich, residents of low-lying areas are urged to evacuate and not enter flood waters as life-threatening flooding is expected to affect more parts of the area.
Queensland flood waters expected to overtake deadly 2011 weather event
