Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has urged south east Queensland residents to stay home this afternoon with a severe thunderstorm warning current.
“This is an extraordinary weather event and it should be treated very seriously. I urge everyone to stay home if safe to do so, and call for help if you need it.”
Ms Palazczuk says the rain is moving to the Gold Coast and “we are monitoring the Logan and Albert rivers.”
She says there’s “a lot of water around”.
“If you don’t have to be on the roads please don’t be on the roads.”
“There’s a lot of water that has been coming up quite suddenly.”
“This water is unrelenting.”
Ms Palaszczuk says the rain is expected to ease going into tomorrow.
“We have this big rain event right across the southeast…we have a lot of rain coming right across the southeast catchment zone into Wivenhoe.”
She says the weather is “starting to move south.”
“This is a very extreme weather event that we have at the moment.”
Ms Palaszczuk has asked people to conserve water amid problems with the Mount Crosby treatment plant, which includes Logan.
She says SES calls have been received from some areas of the Scenic Rim.
“There will be some schools impacted and of course it may be hard to get to some schools as well.”
Ms Palaszczuk says the system is moving south and Beaudesert could experience major flooding tomorrow.
(Scenic Rim Regional Council)
Some schools will be impacted, but Ms Palaszczuk says more information would come later today.
State Disaster Coordinator Steve Gollschewski says it’s still a dangerous situation across the southeast.
“Please stay safe – you do not need to be out in this environment.”
“If you don’t go into the water you can’t drown.”
The Bureau of Meteorology warns that intense rainfall may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding.
“This low is expected to track southward along the Southeast Queensland coast and into northeastern New South Wales today producing further heavy to locally intense rainfall with embedded thunderstorms.”
“As this low tracks southwards heavy rainfall is expected to contract towards the New South Wales border during today.”
Officials are confident Wivenhoe Dam will stand firm against its greatest threat since the 2011 disaster.
In Logan residents are being warned not to leave their homes unless it’s necessary as the city was placed under an “emergency alert” on yesterday afternoon as flooding continues.
The city’s catchments had varying levels of rainfall over the past 24 hours – from 4o millimetres to more than 200 millimetres.
Logan Mayor Darren Power is urging residents to be prepared for the possibility of becoming isolated due to flooding and to stock up on essentials in the event some areas of the city become cut off.
“Schmidts Rd at Logan Reserve is already isolated, and other areas could also become affected by rising waterways.”
“We need our community to be aware and alert of how they might be impacted and also be sensible about how they handle the conditions.”
“Now is the time to be prepared – make sure you have essential food and medication, and that your family and pets are safe.”
Communities that could be impacted by floodwaters include Logan Village and Buccan around Dairy Creek, Ooah Creek and Quinzeh Creek, Jimboomba and Glenlogan, around Henderson Creek and the Logan River.
