SEQ & NE NSW: Rain event & Flood tragedy - Jan 2011

[Blackee]

Wivenhoe Dam is almost at full flood capacity!

I bloody hope that those who calculated the max dam height are right and the dam wall is not compromised.

[Blackee]

Alert to all residents DS of Gatton near Lockyer Creek, you must self-evacuate IMMEDIATELY!
A surge of some 7m (allegedly) is coming down Lockyer Creek.

[Lily]

This is just horrific... With that volume of water coming through town mid afternoon there would have to be at least some casualties

[Blackee]

7m surge is tsunami like!
I cannot confirm or deny the claim of such height.
If it is 7m, it will take everything down in its path, bridges, buildings, people!

[Lily]

Courtesy of Herald Sun, full report http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/nation ... 5984657199

"We have a railway line about 60 or 70 metres suspended in mid air and two cars that are virtually unrecognisable that have floated and smashed into the rail."

Witnesses said flash flooding has sent up to two metres of water coursing down streets in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.

[Blackee]

Thanks to #seqincidents
Reports of 3 Persons on roof of a House Floating down river. Helicopter responding. Helidon.

[apocalypse]

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weath ... 19l0y.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Lockyer Valley residents urged to evacuate
Cameron Atfield
January 10, 2011 - 8:03PM
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Residents downstream from the Lockyer Creek area have been urged to immediately evacuate.

A police spokesman said a "large amount" of water was on its way down Lockyer Creek from Toowoomba.

He said people needed to evacuate to higher ground "as soon as possible" before the flood arrived.

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The warning extended to low lying areas between Gatton and Ipswich, where residents were advised to evacuate to higher ground.

Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor Steve Jones said the evacuation could affect up to 5000 people.

"It’s very severe, it’s a very, very big concern. It could be as big as [the] 1974 [floods],’’ he said.

Cr Jones said there was no time to door-knock residents in the upper parts of the valley before the flash flooding hit.

‘‘There wouldn’t have been time, it came up too quick,’’ he said.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the creek was at 18.92 metres at Gatton at 6.30pm.

The previous record was 16.33 metres in 1893.

‘‘It’s higher than the record at the moment and it’s still rising, so we’re just waiting to get some idea of what’s going to happen there,’’ a bureau spokesman said.

‘‘Severe record major flooding is expected in areas downstream of Gatton overnight and during Tuesday.’’

Police have told residents living near the creek to stay away from their homes until further notice.

[Dc449]

Really awful. This is really a major disaster and tbh i think warrants a bit more discussion on Victoria's nightly news and our newspaper websites.

[Meso]

It really is quite incredible. I was looking at their rainfall data for the last two days and 37mm of the rain fell in 30 mins and 60mm in one hour this afternoon. And that was with 83mm already in the bank from the day before, not to mention they'd already had heaps late last week.

[Blackee]

Thanks to #seqincidents

QPS MEDIA ALERT Residents in low lying areas of Esk, Toowomba, Sunshine Coast, Urged to Evacuate

QPS MEDIA Alert Residents in low lying areas between Gatton and Ipswich Urged to evacuate

[Blackee]

Again from #seqincidents

**Signifcant Event** Update Murphys Creek 2 Persons Confirmed Deceased Bodies have been recovered Murphys Creek Rd Murphys Creek

[Australis(Shell3155)]

So Sad..
I saw one really shaken girl maybe on abc news, they had been boggie boarding in some water and she got stuck in a drain.
Just cant really imagine having to resort to getting on your roof and waiting for help.

[Blackee]

Allegedly 2 adults and 2 children deceased from floods in Toowoomba.
That along with the double fatality @ Murphys Creek, sees the death toll reach 6 (unconfirmed)

What a day....

[Lily]

Again from #seqincidents

**Signifcant Event** Update Murphys Creek 2 Persons Confirmed Deceased Bodies have been recovered Murphys Creek Rd Murphys Creek

Is this the woman and child or some other poor souls?

ETA: Just saw your last post, OMG. Just OMG *shakes head*

[Blackee]

Again from #seqincidents

**Signifcant Event** Update Murphys Creek 2 Persons Confirmed Deceased Bodies have been recovered Murphys Creek Rd Murphys Creek

Is this the woman and child or some other poor souls?

No sure Lily, but you can add 20 missing to the unconfirmed death toll.

Cannot think of another flash flood event to be so deadly in this country!

[Lily]

Bloody hell, you're kidding? Where are you getting this info, the radio link you gave earlier? You feel so helpless just sitting here watching this unfold

[Blackee]

4BC & ABC QLD are providing brilliant coverage.

Also I am following SEQ incidents on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/seqincidents" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Please note that the death toll (6) and missing count (20) are only reports and not confirmed. The picture will be much clearer and more devastating once the sun rises tomorrow.

EDIT: 3AW are reporting that police have confirmed 4 deaths in Toowoomba. Further to this.
From #3AW (Twitter) Four people have been confirmed dead in flash flooding at Toowoomba and Murphys Creek, with an adult and a child dead in each location.

[Australis(Shell3155)]

Horror.
Imagine how they are feeling as it gets dark and they are flooded out.
These ppl are going to take a lot to get over all this devastation.
Know first hand the feeling of flood when I was a kid, nothing to these extremes tho.

[daviescr]

Absolutely shocking stuff. Unimaginable.

Here's the surge recorded at the river height station:

[Lily]

So major flood level is 8m, and it's currently peaking at around 13m? A five metre high wall of water, am I reading that right?