Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Local flooding - Flooding in SE Qld

Bribie Island. (Click for more photos from The Courier Mail Gallery.)
Oxenford-Tambourine Road.


Moggil Road Kenmore.

Peachester.
Not surprising really, last time it flooded in May we had 22 inches of rain in five days in 1996. By the way, it never rains in May. I wonder if Flim Flannery has been holidaying in South East Queensland?

Last night when I arrived home from the Heaven+Earth book launch (which I'll write about soon), I checked the rain gauge. It had rained most of the evening and rained on me all the way home. There had only been an inch up to 11pm last night. I've just checked the gauge (it's approximately 4:45pm), and there's just under 80ml, which is just over three inches. There's been another two inches in about seventeen hours.

Another item of interest is that the South East Queensland dams are now at approximately 66%, they were at 59 the day before yesterday, and the dams are expected to reach 70% of capacity by the end of the week.

It's the wettest day in 17 years. The premier has declared that the drought is over. (?)

More information here at The Courier Mail.
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Queensland (from Weatherzone)

FLOOD WARNING FOR LOCKYER CK, BREMER RIVER, WARRILL CK AND IPSWICH CREEKS
Issued at 4:29 PM on Wednesday the 20th of May 2009
by the Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane.

A band of heavy rainfall associated with a low pressure system has moved into the catchments of the Bremer River and Lockyer, Warrill, Purga, Bundamba and Woogaroo Creeks.

The heavy rainfall has caused widespread river rises with isolated areas of moderate to major flooding in the Purga, Woogaroo and Bundamba Creeks.

Minor rises are occurring in Warrill Creek with a minor to moderate flood peak downstream at Amberley expected overnight tonight.

Below minor river rises are being recorded in the Bremer River and are expected to generate a minor to moderate flood peak at Walloon early Thursday morning.

River levels at Ipswich are expected to peak during Thursday morning as upstream waters arrive causing below minor flooding.

Further widespread rises and higher flood levels are possible during this afternoon and tonight but dependent on further rainfall.

Motorists are warned not to attempt to drive through flood water on roads.

Weather Forecast:
Rain periods with possible local thunder. Moderate to locally heavy falls.

Next Issue:
The next warning will be issued at about 10pm Wednesday.

Latest River Heights:
Lockyer Ck at Helidon * 0.97m steady 03:00 PM WED 20/05/09
Tenthill Ck at Tenthill * 0.34m steady 02:00 PM WED 20/05/09
Lockyer Ck at Gatton # 1.7m rising 03:55 PM WED 20/05/09
Laidley Ck at Mulgowie * 3.24m rising 03:10 PM WED 20/05/09
Laidley Ck at Showground Weir # 4.12m falling 01:51 PM WED 20/05/09
Laidley Ck at Warrego Hwy * 0.75m rising 02:00 PM WED 20/05/09
Lockyer Ck at Glenore Grove # 2.12m steady 03:04 PM WED 20/05/09
Lockyer Ck at Rifle Range Rd * 1.63m rising 03:10 PM WED 20/05/09
Lockyer Ck at O'Reilly's Weir # 8.41m rising 02:43 PM WED 20/05/09

Brisbane R at Lowood # 1.88m rising 04:02 PM WED 20/05/09
Brisbane R at Savages Crossing # 4.84m rising 03:47 PM WED 20/05/09
Black Snake Ck at Marburg # 1.75m steady 03:16 PM WED 20/05/09
Brisbane R at Mt Crosby # 7.33m steady 12:01 PM WED 20/05/09
Brisbane R at Colleges Crossing # 3.06m rising 04:04 PM WED 20/05/09

Bremer R at Adams Br * 3.71m rising 03:00 PM WED 20/05/09
Western Ck at Kuss Rd # 4.05m rising 04:04 PM WED 20/05/09
Bremer R at Rosewood# 1.53m rising 03:54 PM WED 20/05/09
Bremer R at Five Mile Br Walloon # 2.72m rising 04:00 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Kalbar Weir HW # 2.06m rising 03:57 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Kalbar Weir TW * 4.91m rising 02:40 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Harrisville # 1.9m rising 03:46 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Churchbank Weir # 1.55m rising 04:04 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Greens Rd Amberley # 4.2m rising 03:58 PM WED 20/05/09
Purga Ck at Washpool # 4.55m rising 04:00 PM WED 20/05/09
Purga Ck at Loamside # 6.33m steady 04:04 PM WED 20/05/09
Bremer R at One Mile Br # 8.68m rising 04:03 PM WED 20/05/09
Bremer R at Ipswich # 3.95m rising 04:01 PM WED 20/05/09


Update:
Latest flood warnings in my valley:

Next Issue:
The next warning will be issued at about 7am Wednesday. (I think they mean Thursday.)

Latest River Heights:
Lockyer Ck at Helidon * 1.7m rising 08:30 PM WED 20/05/09
Tenthill Ck at Tenthill # 0.48m steady 08:10 PM WED 20/05/09
Lockyer Ck at Gatton # 2.75m rising 09:18 PM WED 20/05/09
Laidley Ck at Mulgowie * 3.88m falling 08:40 PM WED 20/05/09
Laidley Ck at Showground Weir # 5.52m rising 09:33 PM WED 20/05/09
Lockyer Ck at Glenore Grove # 2.12m steady 03:04 PM WED 20/05/09
Lockyer Ck at Rifle Range Rd * 3m rising 08:40 PM WED 20/05/09
Lockyer Ck at O'Reilly's Weir # 8.91m rising 09:20 PM WED 20/05/09

Brisbane R at Lowood # 2.03m rising 09:16 PM WED 20/05/09
Brisbane R at Savages Crossing # 4.48m rising 09:20 PM WED 20/05/09
Black Snake Ck at Marburg # 1.85m rising 09:26 PM WED 20/05/09
Brisbane R at Mt Crosby # 7.33m steady 12:01 PM WED 20/05/09
Brisbane R at Colleges Crossing # 5.26m rising 09:34 PM WED 20/05/09

Bremer R at Adams Br * 3.31m falling 08:40 PM WED 20/05/09
Western Ck at Kuss Rd # 6.75m rising 08:44 PM WED 20/05/09
Bremer R at Rosewood# 2.68m rising 09:21 PM WED 20/05/09
Bremer R at Five Mile Br Walloon # 5.01m rising 09:35 PM WED 20/05/09

Warrill Ck at Kalbar Weir HW # 1.31m falling 09:35 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Kalbar Weir TW * 5.74m falling 08:40 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Harrisville# 4.6m rising 09:32 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Churchbank Weir # 2.6m rising 09:13 PM WED 20/05/09
Warrill Ck at Greens Rd Amberley # 5.95m rising 09:23 PM WED 20/05/09
Purga Ck at Washpool # 3.55m falling 09:36 PM WED 20/05/09
Purga Ck at Loamside # 8.25m steady 09:37 PM WED 20/05/09
Bremer R at One Mile Br # 11.53m rising 09:35 PM WED 20/05/09
Bremer R at Ipswich # 6.5m rising 09:38 PM WED 20/05/09

4 comments:

Mr. Bingley said...

Geesh! Looks like the gerbil warmening drought is really taking hold!

TimT said...

Damn, wish you could send some of that water our way.

You should have tagged those pictures 'my backyard'.

Boy on a bike said...

It's been thumping down here all day. Good day to own a 4WD. If it came down any harder, Sydney would have been at a standstill with flooded roads everywhere.

Didn't stop some fools from driving like temporary Australians.

Skeeter said...

The local yobboes are slow learners when it comes to driving in the wet. On Tuesday morning, in a 15 km drive into town I saw the remains of four cars that had failed to negotiate bends.
We've recorded 378 mm (14.9 inches) since Monday night.
The river came over the bank briefly yesterday and panicked me into recovering a temporary electric fence around some young trees.
I will have to reinstall it this morning before the cows eat the trees.
Cap'n Bligh waiting until now to declare that the drought is over? It has been pouring since the end of last winter and we had 3 minor floods mid-summer. What planet is she on?
Sounds to me like she is hoping we won't notice all that wasted money spent on de-salinators and pipe lines while the Hinze Dam has been overflowing for three years.