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

[HarleyB]

Dayboro is being evacuated now. It is getting worse

[Blackee]

SEQ evacs should have started yesterday IMO!
But I will cool my heels about responsibility, peoples lives are at risk and the rain is still belting down, north of the Wivenhoe.

Edit: Helicopter grounded due to lightning multiple rescues pending Forest Hill Fernvale

Edit #2: Multiple Rescues Underway Gatton

[mad*moo73]

Just watching the coverage on Sky News - dreadful. And by the look of the Brisbane radar there is plenty more to come.

[Blackee]

From 3AW
Search and rescue crews will aim to go door to door in flood-hit parts of South-East Queensland to check for survivors and bodies

[Petethemoskeet]

Skynews reporting 5 bodies have been found in the Lockyer Valley.

[Blackee]

Gates fully open yet the Wivenhoe continues to climb.

Attempting to obtain confirmation that Brisbane transport system will shut down this afternoon.

[wolfcat]

http://www.translink.com.au/travel-info ... ce-updates" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

has no info about a 2pm close down...

Chinese Rumours at the moment.

[apocalypse]

Win News has announced that the Brisbane River has broken its banks and is currently flooding parts of the CBD.

[Blackee]

http://www.translink.com.au/travel-info ... ce-updates

has no info about a 2pm close down...

Chinese Rumours at the moment.

Yes, just heard that PT will not close at this stage.

I have been getting updates over the past hour about some very bad news re. Death toll, but not confirmed as yet. Once I get confirmation I will pass it on.

[apocalypse]

If it is the same news that I have heard, it is absolutely awful. I never imagined that this would happen.

[Dc449]

Any chance you could PM me what you heard?

Ive got family up on the Sunshine Coast but they are okay. Just watching the news. OMG unbelievable.

[mick]

The figure of 75 missing has not changed all day, this is unusual and doesnt sound too good at all.

[Lily]

I was thinking the same thing, Mick, though earlier today ABC radio suggested that approximately 50 of the 70 odd missing persons were in a hall ok but unable to get out at that stage. I certainly hope that is the case.

[Rhino]

Mum heard the same thing Lily, but you would think that the people missing total would have changed by now so don't know?

Rhino.

[Blackee]

Problem for emergency workers and rescuers is that the rivers are still flooded and cannot access all properties. It will take days for the rescue and recovery operation to be completed.

I have also found a link to a cam showing the Brisbane River "live"
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/brisbane-river-flood" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Australis(Shell3155)]

face book comment.
My brother has left work to head home but is stuck on a freeway in Brisbane with a multi car pileup in front of him. Will take him a very long time to get home as many other motorists are doing the same.

[Rhino]

Good site Wes, you can really see the speed of the water there and bits and pieces flowing past.

Rhino.

[AUSSKY]

We've evacuated our Eagle Farm office and sent everyone home 2 hours ago........Jane

[phunkster]

Not 100% sure if the is the best thread for this link, or whether it's been posted already, but a very interesting video of infrared imagery of the rainfall over the 4 weeks leading to Jan 3rd.

http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/MediaDetail.ph ... iaTypeID=2

[Jake Smethurst]

Just quickly the latest news breifs.

Flood toll at eight, expected to rise

Whole families are unaccounted for after flash floods in southern Queensland, with eight confirmed dead and Premier Anna Bligh warning the toll could rise dramatically.

Ms Bligh said authorities were considering declaring a mega-disaster zone over a 'significant region' of Queensland, a move that would be unprecedented in the state's history.

'We are just looking for an appropriate northern line and everything south of that would be declared,' she said.

The premier said four of the confirmed deaths were children, and there were fears for many other people, with 72 unaccounted for.

Full story: http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Austral ... 62968.html

Evacuations as floods hit Brisbane
Updated: 14:25, Tuesday January 11, 2011

The Brisbane River has broken its banks with evacuations underway in the heart of the city amid fears Brisbane will see its worst flooding since the 1974 disaster.

Office towers on Eagle Street are being emptied, along with businesses in Fortitude Valley, and flood waters are creeping into the inner-city suburb of West End, where residents have been told to get to higher ground.

Evacuations are also underway on Brisbane's northside at Albion and Bowen Hills, the ABC reported.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman is due to brief the media at 1pm (AEST).

It's feared Brisbane could be about to experience its worst flood since the catastrophic 1974 event, when at least 6700 homes were partially or totally flooded in the Brisbane metropolitan area.

The Wivenhoe dam was subsequently built to the protect city's west.

The Brisbane City Council has released a list of 32 at-risk suburbs.

On Monday it warned 200 properties could be flooded, most in the areas of Rocklea, Albion, Milton and Auchenflower.

But the situation has worsened since then, and that warning was issued before flash flooding tore through Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane.

Premier Anna Bligh on Tuesday said urgent modelling was being carried out to determine how the Toowoomba deluge would affect the situation in the capital, and west at Ipswich where evacuation alerts are also in place.

She said the water that fell in the Toowoomba area would move into the catchment of the Wivenhoe dam, and from there it must be released, at a controlled rate, into the Brisbane River.

Releases from the dam are being ramped up to cope with the enormous volume of water its holding back.

'Releases from Wivenhoe are not optional, there is no discretion here,' the premier told reporters on Tuesday.

Some residents at Ipswich were also evacuating areas close to the rising Bremer River on Tuesday.

'I'm told by the experts we are likely to see levels similar to the dreadful 1974 floods,' Mayor Paul Pisasale said.

The floods of '74 flooded 1800 homes and businesses in Ipswich, and 41 homes were washed away.

On Tuesday, the Wivenhoe Dam was at 173 per cent capacity. It can take up to 200 per cent. Somerset dam, which feeds into Wivenhoe, was at 160 per cent, the SEQ Water Grid said.

It said controlled releases from Wivenhoe would need to be increased further on Tuesday.

'These releases are being made in consultation with the Bureau of Meteorology and local councils and aim to limit downstream impacts where possible,' it said.

'Note, these large releases are necessary for the safe management of the dam.'

It said water levels in Somerset were expected to continue to rise on Tuesday and areas around Kilcoy were likely to be impacted by the rising dam levels.

Residents in the upper Somerset townships of Kilcoy, Jimna and Linville are being urged to conserve water due to the impacts of local flooding on water infrastructure.

Water Grid spokesperson Dan Spiller said vital water infrastructure in those areas had been damaged by flood waters, cutting off the raw water supply.

'We have a limited supply in local reservoirs that is expected to last one to three days. However, we will ensure that critical supplies are maintained. In the meantime, we are asking people to conserve water while we repair equipment and organise alternative supplies,' he said.

In Jimna and Linville, rising waters have impacted infrastructure that supports the region's supply.

Approximately 1,000 residents on town water across these three areas were affected, it said.

'We are asking people to restrict non-essential water use ...,' Mr Spiller said.