Just as the the worst of the wet conditions seemed to have passed in Logan, the state government has put the whole of south east Queensland on flash flood alert as severe storms hit the coastline on Thursday.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the river systems do not have the capacity to take on any more water, so further rainfall will likely bring rapid and potentially life threatening flash flooding.
“The situation we have seen over the past week has meant that any rainfall that falls in the south east is going to renew these river rises and the creeks will respond very quickly,” meteorologist Laura Boekel from the bureau said.
“They do not have the capacity to take on any more water, so they will rise if anymore water falls on those areas, so that’s why today it is a very dangerous and severe situation.”
Hail, wind and significant rainfall is expected across the rest of today, she said.
“While we are seeing creeks and rivers rising, there’s also potential for flash flooding today, so that’s flooding with little to no warning is absolutely a risk today,” Ms Boekel said.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carrol said 9 deaths linked to flooding in the last week.
She said severe conditions will last for the next 24 to 48 hours and urged people to stay off the roads, which are already congested, and to not return to flood impacted areas until the weather has passed.
“If it is essential [to travel], please be aware of the weather and where it is likely to impact,” she said.
On Tuesday, major flooding in the Logan River catchment started receding after it exceeded the 2017 ex-cyclone Debbie level with a peak of 11.5m.
Approximately 3,500 people were without power in the region and many road closures remain.
Up to 200 homes are believed to be inundated based on what happened after the floods in 2017, according to Logan City Council.
Weatherwatch meteorologist David Sercombe reported that between 500 and 600mm fell across Browns Plains, Slacks Creek and Waterford over the last three days.
He said rainfall between now and the weekend might not be as intense as the deluge over the last week, but still poses a strong safety risk.
“The type of rainfall will be different,” he said.
“As opposed to heavy rain falling everywhere, we’re going to see narrower, patchier falls from that activity.
“If you hear that thunder and it’s pouring, there may be some water popping up in odd places as opposed to the major rivers flooding.”
Looking ahead to the next few weeks, Mr Sercombe said the charts indicate conditions will not worsen the current situation.
“The patterns for the next few weeks don’t look particularly concerning at the moment,” he said.
He said that one reassuring aspect this time around, compared to conditions during the 2011 floods, is that there does not appear to be dangerous follow up events.
“You might remember in 2010/2011, there were the big follow up events,” he said.
“They started releasing water from the dam in October [that year], then there was the Christmas-New Year stuff, which went on for a fortnight.
“It then led to the crescendo of that period of January 11 and 12 for the 2011 floods.”
