As the flood continues to hit Logan hard today, and so much information flows through, we’ve decided to again host a rolling blog of news as it arrives to us. There might be some breaks as we get out and about to talk to people, but we’ll certainly attempt to post what we have as soon as we are able.
5.01pm: Police target looting
Not great when police have to spend their time hunting looters.
Police have launched a preventative operation to combat property crime and protect homes and businesses in flood affected areas.
Operation Uniform Nash aims to prevent, disrupt and investigate incidents of looting and property crime offences across all areas impacted by flooding from Maryborough to the Gold Coast.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) will draw resources from across the state, including general duties, plain clothes, railway squad, dog squad and specialist police officers.
Around the clock local patrols have already commenced in flood zone areas and will include the use of resources from both the Water Police and POLAIR.
The focus will be deterring and detecting would-be thieves through increased patrols, surveillance, and intelligence provided from members of the public.
4.38pm: Council’s release from today (March 1)
City of Logan Mayor Darren Power is urging residents to remain cautious despite floodwaters slowly receding.
Logan River from Waterford to Parklands is expected peak today above the 2017 level (ex-TC Debbie) of 10.5 metres before easing.
Based on the 2017 flood, it is estimated around 200 homes may be significantly impacted.
Floodwaters at Maclean Bridge peaked overnight at 20.64 metres just below the 2017 peak of 20.66 metres. A major flood warning remains in place.
Albert River is slowly falling and should pass the moderate flood level today.
The mayor encouraged the community to be vigilant as significant dangers remain.
“Now is not the time to be complacent as we still have a long way to go,” Cr Power said.
“We have a resilient community that has experienced floods previously and Council and emergency services are working around the clock to support those most impacted.
“We’ve got around 200 roads across the city that are either closed or affected by floodwater.
“Some will be closed for days as water recedes and Council engineers can conduct safety inspections.
“If you have to go out, plan your journey to avoid impacted roads and, of course, if it’s flooded forget it!”
Flagstone, Jimboomba and Logan Reserve remain cut off while other suburbs have localised areas that are inaccessible.
Council and its disaster management partners are delivering essential supplies to affected communities and conducting welfare checks with impacted residents.
An evacuation centre for City of Logan residents displaced by rising floodwaters is operating at the Logan Metro Sports & Events Centre in Crestmead.
The centre, at 357 Browns Plains Road, assisted 19 people overnight and is being coordinated 24/7 by Red Cross, the SES and volunteers.
The facility provides:
• showers
• limited food and drinks (with catering provided by the Salvation Army)
• beds and blankets
There are no COVID-19 vaccination restrictions in place, and RAT tests are available for any symptomatic people.
Pets can be brought to the evacuation centre, but they will be taken offsite for care at no cost by Council’s animal management officers.
Temporary places of refuge, where residents can use toilets, charge their devices, or have a tea or coffee break are open from 7am until 5pm at:
• Cornubia Sports Centre, 46-170 Bryants Rd, Cornubia
• Logan West Community Centre, 2 Wineglass Dve, Hillcrest
These venues are not providing overnight accommodation.
Sandbags are available until 6pm today at:
• Logan East SES Depot, 26-36 Winnetts Road, Daisy Hill
• Beenleigh Showgrounds, access via James Street
• Logan Metro Sports Park (at the Logan Football Complex), 357 Browns Plains Road
Some pre-filled bags are available and residents can also fill bags. There is a limit of 10 bags per visit.
Other flood-related developments in the City of Logan today include:
• Residents should conserve water where possible due as the Mt Crosby and North Pine treatment plants are operating below capacity. Seqwater advises that water quality is not affected.
• Those who have been without electricity for an extended period should practise food safety precautions. Advice on managing your food supply is available at: Food Safety During Power Outages
• An updated list of closed or flooded roads is available on Council’s Disaster Dashboard. The dashboard also includes information on current power outages. Go to disaster.logan.qld.com.au
• For flood emergency assistance, contact the SES on 132 500. For life-threatening emergencies, call Triple Zero (000).
• Some disruption to bin collection services is likely. Put your bin out the night before usual collection day. If your bin is not emptied, leave it on the footpath and will be emptied as soon as possible. Bin supply, repairs, replacements and upgrades will be delayed and not expected to recommence until Wednesday at the earliest.
• Council’s Waste & Recycling Facilities at Browns Plains, Beenleigh, Carbrook, Greenbank and Logan Village are all open today. Delays are likely and residents should avoid using these facilities unless absolutely necessary.
• Free disposal at Council’s waste and recycling facilities is now available for residents wanting to get rid of storm or flood-related waste or rubbish from wheelie bins not yet collected in the usual weekly service (This does not have to be transported to the tip in a wheelie bin).
• To report potholes and other damage please call Council’s Customer Service on 3412 3412.
• Council community immunisation clinics scheduled for today at Crestmead PCYC, Yarrabilba Community Centre and Outreach Service in Logan Central are cancelled.
• Council school immunisation clinics that were scheduled at the following schools for Wednesday and Thursday will be postponed and rescheduled. Trinity College, Canterbury College, Beenleigh Special, Australian Technology & Agricultural College and San Damiano College.
• Clean Up Australia Day by Canoe events at Larry Storey Park and at Alberta Park this weekend are postponed. New dates are yet to be finalised.
• To volunteer for the clean-up, contact Volunteering Queensland at volunteeringqld.org.au
• To make a donation visit givit.org.au
• Flood-affected residents of Logan are eligible to apply for the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment of $1000 per adult and $400 eligible child through Services Australia.
• Council recommends avoiding contact with floodwaters for up to five days after the rain stops due to potential risks from bacteria carried into waterways from runoff.
3.12pm Bin collection
We’re being told that there might be delays to bin collection – for obvious reasons.
But council is asking people to put their bins out as normal. That means they’ll be collected as soon as collections resume as normal.
2.53pm: Salvos appeal
The Salvation Army is launching a flood appeal, kicking it off with a $1 million contribution.
The Salvos are hoping to raise $10 million with public help. It will be a national appeal.
2.30pm: Dog, cat rescue in loan tinnie
A woman, 50, her three dogs and cat saw knights in a shining tinnie.
Police from Logan District Tactical Crime Squad rescued her after the five of them became isolated when rapidly rising floodwater inundated her South Maclean home.
Police used the assistance of a local man and his boat to get to the location as it was inaccessible by vehicle.
We are pleased to report the woman and her companions were rescued without incident.
Police would like to thank the good Samaritan for his boating skills and supporting police to enact this rescue mission. This showcases the support of the community we have here in Logan.
12.14pm: Beenleigh traffic jam.
Plenty of traffic heading through Beenleigh.
With the closure of the Waterford Bridge and other roads to the M1 flooded, City Road is being used by motorists as the only access point to the M1.
Police are asking people to travel only for essential purposes.
11.35am: Back it up, folks!
Logan Police have seen an increase in motorists driving through floodwaters around Logan and the Scenic Rim. We can not be any clearer, do not drive through floodwater!
Numerous roads are currently underwater all over Logan District. Water levels are varying across our suburbs due to the Logan and Albert Rivers flooding.
There is no reason to be driving through floodwaters. Remember: If its flooded, forget it! Most roads have road closed signs preventing vehicles from travelling through but not all of them do due to the number of roads affected.
Quite simply, a road sign shouldn’t be required at every flooded road, common sense should prevail here. Your safety and the safety of your passengers is paramount.
Motorists detected driving through floodwaters will be issued infringement notices with penalties reaching as high as $550.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced driver, if the person before you got through, or you think you know the road and what your car can do, floodwaters can change everything without warning. The second you decide to drive through floodwater, you will give up control.
When faced with floodwater, the bravest and smartest thing you can do is back it up.
10.55am: Latest council release (from yesterday, repeated here in full)
An evacuation centre for City of Logan residents displaced by rising floodwaters is now open at the Logan Metro Sports & Events Centre in Crestmead.
Those who have had to leave their homes due to inundation, extensive power outages or isolation, can access the evacuation centre at 357 Browns Plains Road.
The evacuation centre is being coordinated 24/7 by Red Cross and volunteers.
The facility will provide:
• showers
• limited food and drinks (with catering provided by the Salvation Army)
• beds and blankets
There will be no COVID-19 vaccination restrictions in place, and RAT tests will be available for any symptomatic people.
Pets can be brought to the evacuation centre, but they will be taken offsite for care at no cost by Council’s animal management officers.
City of Logan Mayor Darren Power commended the local community for its resilience since the severe weather event began last Friday.
“We are facing a serious and widespread emergency but it has been heartening to see our community band together at this very challenging time,” Cr Power said.
“With several local waterways and rivers still approaching their flood peaks, residents should remain alert and be prepared to act, whether that means moving to higher ground, or taking appropriate steps to protect their properties.
“Volunteers and staff across our City have worked hard today to be able to provide our community with places of refuge and rest.
“I encourage everyone to make use of these facilities as appropriate and to continue to be patient as our emergency services respond to calls for assistance.”
Temporary places of refuge, where residents can use toilets, charge their devices, or have a tea or coffee break are open at:
• Cornubia Sports Centre – 146-170 Bryants Rd, Cornubia
• Caddies Jimboomba 19-33 South Street (only limited power points are available)
These venues are open during daytime hours.
The refuge centre at the Beenleigh PCYC unfortunately had to close Monday afternoon due to a power outage. A place of refuge will also open at the Logan West Community Centre from 8am Tuesday.
These venues are not providing overnight accommodation.
The Logan River at Maclean Bridge (in the City’s south-west) is now at 20.3 metres and rising. It is expected to peak at 5pm today, only slightly exceeding the 2017 ex-TC
Debbie flood level (20.50 metres).
It is likely to remain above the major flood level (16 metres) for the next few days.
The Albert River at Beenleigh peaked this afternoon at 7.3 metres on the incoming tide, while the Logan River at Parklands is currently at 6 metres and rising. Major flooding is occurring in the area.
Those residents whose properties may be inundated are advised to:
• Monitor their situation and be prepared to move to higher ground if required
• Secure objects that could float and stack furniture and possessions as high as possible
• Move and secure chemicals, poisons and garbage
• Follow manufacturer’s advice to deactivate any solar panels
Some suburbs, including Flagstone, Jimboomba and Logan Reserve, are now isolated as rising floodwaters cut road access.
Other areas that could also become isolated, or significantly impacted by floodwater, include:
• Logan Village and Buccan around Dairy, Ooah and Quinzeh Creeks
• Glenlogan, around Henderson Creek and the Logan River
• Chambers Flat, around Norris Creek and Chambers Creek
• Carbrook, around Native Dog Creek
• Kairabah, around the Albert River
• Bethania, around the Logan River
• Waterford, adjacent to the Logan River
• Marsden, around Scrubby Creek
Sandbags are available from three locations until 6pm, including:
• Logan East SES Depot, 26-36 Winnetts Road, Daisy Hill
• Beenleigh Showgrounds, access via James Street
• Logan Metro Sports Park (at the Logan Football Complex)
Some pre-filled bags are available and residents can also fill bags. There is a limit of 10 bags per visit.
City of Logan residents are also asked to conserve water where possible due to water supply concerns at the Mt Crosby and North Pine treatment plants. Seqwater has advised that water quality is not being affected.
Residents who have been without electricity for an extended period should also practise food safety precautions. Advice on managing your food supply is available at: Food Safety During Power Outages
Other flood-related developments in the City of Logan today include:
• Some disruption to bin collection services may occur this week. Put your bin out the night before usual collection day. If your bin is not emptied, leave it on the footpath and will be emptied as soon as possible
• The citizenship ceremony at the Beenleigh Events Centre tonight has been postponed.
• To report potholes and other damage please call Council’s Customer Service on 3412 3412.
An updated list of closed or flooded roads is available on Council’s Disaster Dashboard. The dashboard also includes information on current power outages. Go to disaster.logan.qld.com.au
Council recommends avoiding contact with floodwaters for up to five days after the rain stops due to potential risks from bacteria carried into waterways from runoff.
For flood emergency assistance, contact the SES on 132 500. For life-threatening emergencies, call Triple Zero (000).
10.50am: Mayor with SES and Red Cross
10.45am: Supermarkets looking at limits
No limits in the Logan area yet as far as we know, but there might be a knock on effect:
Woolworths has introduced purchase limits on a range of categories in regions of Queensland whose supply lines have been impacted by road and rail closures.
The move follows several days of heavy rainfall and flooding, which has caused extensive road closures in different parts of Queensland. A freight train derailment at Traveston near Gympie has compounded the supply challenge. This is affecting the volume of freight moving around the state.
Woolworths General Manager for Queensland, Danny Baldwin said: “The loss of key transport links because of flooding will regrettably have an impact on product availability in different parts of Queensland.
“We’ve placed temporary purchase limits on selected categories in affected stores to help ensure more customers have access to food and essentials while we work through this period of disruption.
“We have transport contingency plans in place and will do everything we can to safely get stock into our stores via alternative road routes.
“We encourage customers to be mindful of others in the community and only buy what they need. We thank customers for their patience and understanding.”
10.24am (updated 10.41am): Fuel supplies low
Reports from Yarrabilba this morning that two service stations are out of fuel. This remains unconfirmed whether they are out of fuel, or just closed.
Also some reports that some fast food joints are running out of stock – only in isolated areas.
We’ll endeavour to find out.
10.18am: Schools’ reopening
The education department is saying schools will be assessed on an individual basis as floodwaters subside.
Most will be right to re-open, but others may have extensive damage.
“Our absolute highest priority is the safety of our students, staff, and families,” Minister Grace Grace said.
“As flood waters recede and we can conduct damage assessments and ensure safe transport, more schools will be able to open.
“Across the 10 LGAs where all schools will remain closed, there will be very limited public transport and travelling by road may be dangerous.
“This means while the school site itself may be safe to open, we do not want people out on the streets trying to get to schools when that could be dangerous.
9.44am: Remarkable community spirit
One of the amazing messages of compassion posted on social media – this from Jay Hall at Flagstone:
) or even simply lonely and just need a chat.9.36am: Bike rider explores flood zone
9.15am: Jim Chalmers interview
Transcript from an interview with Member for Rankin Jim Chalmers yesterday afternoon:
Our hearts go out to the people of Lismore who are going through an incredibly difficult time. The people of South East Queensland know a bit what that looks like, having been through some incredibly difficult days. This is not over yet, as the people of Lismore can attest. It’s not over yet here in Logan or in Brisbane either. In many places the floodwaters are still rising.
Over there in Waterford, we’re expecting the floodwaters to continue rising beyond the highs that we saw in the 2017 floods here in Logan. As Murray said, this is Slacks Creek here. It’s one of many roads cut-off in our local community. You can see a submerged four wheel drive out there, and there’s a number of examples like this all throughout Logan.
We want to thank the SES, the other first responders and emergency workers, for putting themselves in harm’s way to look after the rest of us. Just last night in Logan alone, something like 600 call outs for the SES. So we are so grateful and so appreciative to everyone who puts themselves in harm’s way to look out for and look after others. We’re seeing that once again, the very brave people of the SES, the other emergency workers and first responders. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for what they have done. We know from previous floods – and there’s been too many – that often the most difficult time is actually when the floodwaters begin to recede.
It is a heartbreaking time watching the floodwaters come up, but often when the floodwaters start to recede is when people are doing it especially tough and the clean-up begins. There’s a lot of people in our community and further afield who want to know how they can help. At times like these we typically see a flood of kindness and generosity, a flood of humanity, as people put their hands up to help each other out, whether it’s to clean up or to keep people safe. The best thing people can do for now is to register their interest with Volunteering Queensland on the website, there’s some really useful information there as well for people to register their interest, so when that big Mud Army gets going again, the big army of volunteers in South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales gets going again, it’s possible to register your interest that way.
We are a very tough and resilient country. We’ve been through this sort of thing before of course. People will get through this. It’s important that people understand that they’re not on their own, there is help. There are the payments that Murray mentioned. There is the volunteering. Neighbours looking out for neighbours, suburbs looking out for suburbs. This is the very best of the Australian spirit that we see at difficult times like these.
So to everyone involved in the effort, we say thank you. It’s going to be difficult days ahead as the floodwaters recede and the full nastiness of the damage is revealed to all of us. People have gone through a lot the last couple of years. The world is an uncertain place. We didn’t need this, but we will deal with it together in the way that we usually do.
8.54am: Grant assistance
It’s worth noting that grant assistance is not yet open for people from Logan.
However, as floodwaters creeps into homes, it is expected the following arrangements will be replicated here:
More residents across South-East Queensland who have been impacted by severe flooding over recent days may be eligible for financial assistance, including Emergency Hardship Assistance grants of up to $180 per person and $900 for a family of five or more.
Minister for Communities and Housing and Algester MP Leeanne Enoch said the grants were continuing to be made available across impacted areas to support residents who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the flooding.
“This is a very serious and significant flooding event and we know that thousands of people have been hard-hit, with many properties and businesses across the south-east inundated by floodwaters over the past couple of days,” Ms Enoch said.
“We have also seen thousands of people evacuated from their homes for their safety or have been isolated for some time.
“We are continuing to make grants and supports available as we receive requests from local authorities for assistance.”
8.43am: Waterford peak
Floodwater at Waterford, where more than 1000 properties will be impacted, is expected to peak at 9am.
