Queensland rescues follow 450mm rain ahead of southern storms

The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania on Thursday. These alerts follow a week of extreme rainfall in Queensland, with nine active flood warnings currently in place for the southern part of that state.

Senior meteorologist David Crock stated that severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected at several locations in central and eastern Queensland on Saturday. The affected areas include Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, the Sunshine Coast hinterlands, and Roma. Crock noted that the region has experienced a very wet week, with persistent weather patterns drawing in large amounts of moisture over seven to ten days.

Rainfall totals in the Sunshine Coast hinterlands and Caboolture reached between 300mm and 400mm over seven days, with some areas recording up to 450mm. Crock described these conditions as more typical of January or February than October, noting that several areas received more than double their average monthly rainfall in just a few days.

The heaviest falls occurred on Thursday, when torrential rain stretched from Caboolture south to the Border Ranges. Some locations received well over 200mm of rain in a single day. The downpour triggered flash flooding, water rescues, and hundreds of calls for help to the State Emergency Service. Several schools were forced to close on Friday as a result of the weather.

The Queensland fire department conducted more than 16 swift-water rescues during the event. In one incident, crews used a raft to reach an elderly man who was clinging to the roof of his vehicle in Caboolture. The persistent moisture and heavy totals across Queensland and northern New South Wales have set the stage for the new storm system moving south.

A cold front is due to cross New South Wales on Sunday. This front will bring severe thunderstorms to the west of the state, north-eastern Victoria, Sydney, and Brisbane. Crock said the threat of thunderstorms would extend across eastern Australia, with severe storms likely through a wide part of inland eastern Australia. Parts of Victoria, including Melbourne's eastern suburbs, and central and eastern South Australia may also be affected.

In Tasmania, heavy rain is expected to develop overnight into Sunday morning. The forecast indicates that the severe weather will pile more water onto a Queensland that has already absorbed substantial rainfall over the past week, continuing a trend of wet conditions across the eastern states.