Sign Up
..... Australian Property Network. It's All About Property!
Categories

Posted: 2024-11-21 22:08:06

Emergency services have rescued a man clinging to a tree above floodwaters on Queensland's Western Downs, as more than 170 millimetres of rain drenched parts of the state overnight.

Four Rural Fire Service and swift water rescue crews spent nearly three hours trying to reach the man in his 60s, who had been trying to drive across a flooded road south-west of Moonie when his vehicle was swept away on Thursday night.

QFD Acting Inspector Glen Gifford said crews had to locate him in the dark.

"The driver is a total non-swimmer, he was very lucky to get phone reception," he said.

The nearby Leichhardt Highway is currently closed due to flooding. Moonie has received more than 55 millimetres of rain since Tuesday, with a moderate flood warning in place for the Moonie River at Flinton.

Minor flood warnings are also in place for Warrego River basin and Upper Balonne and Maranoa Rivers, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

"Due to frequent shower and storm outbreaks in recent days and recent weeks, the land is near saturation in parts of the state and is primed for possible further flooding," senior meteorologist Angus Hines said. 

"This means we may see localised and areas of flash or riverine flooding in the spots that do see heavier rain today." 

Rain at Augathella

South-west Queensland was lashed with heavy rain earlier this week. (Supplied: Guy Newell)

High rainfall totals and tournament cancelled

The Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane has been abandoned. The 54-hole tournament was originally set to tee off at 11.30am local time. 

"Continued downpours throughout the morning have left a number of fairways at Royal Queensland Golf Club saturated and the course has been deemed unplayable today," director Jose Maria Zamora said in a statement. 

The World Tournament is scheduled to continue tomorrow. 

There were heavy falls across the state overnight, including on the Gold Coast, where 167mm fell at Tugun, 155mm at Coolangatta and 149mm at Palm Beach.

"You can tell from that quick snapshot that the focus has really been that southern end of the Gold Coast," forecaster Patch Clapp said.

"There's plenty still on the radar and we still could see some moderate falls, so we're not quite done just yet."

Gold Coast City Council's General Manager of Disaster and Emergency Management Mark Ryan said his team was monitoring the situation, with a number of roads closed in Bonogin and Tallebudgera.

Flash flooding around Tallebudgera.

Areas like Tallebudgera experienced heavy rainfall overnight. (Supplied: Lauren Rencken)

Meanwhile, the north tropical coast had significant falls after a stretch of dry weather, with 198mm falling at South Mission Beach, 128mm at Tully and about 70mm at Innisfail in 24 hours.

Retired farmer Peter Salleras tipped 140mm out of the rain gauge at his family’s tropical fruits farm in East Feluga, north of Tully, this morning.

"This is worth millions of dollars to the area and to our own farm — it's worth a lot this rain."

Mr Hines said the rain would continue today with light to moderate rain in most areas. 

"The north tropical coast is in line for another wet day with a further 50mm to 100mm possible with persistent showers in those wet tropics," he said. 

"While showers are slowly easing, this will take some time and it means another wet day for much of eastern Queensland." 

Mr Hines said most of the rain would clear today, paving the way for a pleasant weekend, with 25 to 29 degrees Celsius forecast tomorrow in the south-east. 

"The sun will return and temperatures will climb on Saturday after a much cooler week so far," he said.

'We're not very used to getting that amount of rain'

Floodwaters have now subsided in the south-west Queensland town of Charleville after the region was lashed with heavy rain earlier this week.

Murweh Shire mayor Shaun Radnedge said the clean-up was underway.

"We're not very used to getting that amount of rain in the short space of time but … it'll do us a world of good," he said.  

"You can only imagine, there would have been a metre of water through the whole of Charleville [without Bradleys Gully]."

Grazier Guy Newell's Augathella property has received more than 150mm since Sunday, which he said would help ease bushfire concerns.

"We were experiencing really hot days in excess of 40 degrees for almost three weeks," he said.

"It doesn't take much for a fire to get started, and we were … bit worried but this wet stuff now it just stops all of that worry completely."

Cows off road

Floodwaters have subsided in the south-west Queensland town of Charleville. (Supplied: Guy Newell)

View More
  • 0 Comment(s)
Captcha Challenge
Reload Image
Type in the verification code above