South-east Queensland is reeling after a weather system over the weekend dumped heavy rain. Subsequently, the Brisbane River peaked at 3.85 metres about 8:30am and was expected to rise again. Anything from 3.5m and over is considered a major flood in Brisbane.
Thousands of homes have been affected as well as businesses and shopping centres. According to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday morning, up to 18,000 homes have been flooded.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said, “It’s easy to think we’re out of the woods but there are still flood peaks to come.”
“We will also have additional peaks tomorrow and every high tide will coincide with those peaks.”
The UQ St. Lucia ferry terminal is one of the terminals that were built after the 2011 floods. They were very expensive and supposedly able to resist major flood events. Well …… #brisbaneflood #brisbaneriver #qldfloods pic.twitter.com/cm1j19fQzc
— Evelyne Deplazes (@DeplazesEvelyne) February 28, 2022
Rescue operations have been taking place as the record-breaking rains moved south over the border. Record-breaking floods have also been reported in northern NSW. Over 48,000 homes in south-east Queensland are without power and reports suggest that many people could be waiting for days for power to be restored. It’s possible that some people will be waiting until next week in heavily affected areas of parts of Gympie, Brisbane and the Lockyer Valley.
More than 1000 schools across the region will remain closed on Tuesday while some schooled in the Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Lockyer Valley local government areas will reopen.
Great rivers of the world:
– The Nile
– The Amazon
– The Yangtze
– The Mekong
– Kedron Brook#brisbaneflood pic.twitter.com/hXNSQpk7g1— Sam Hall (@SamsungHallaxy) February 27, 2022
Disaster relief payments have already been made available to people affected by the floods. Available to residents in Gympie, the North Burnett, Brisbane City, Fraser Coast, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Noosa, Redlands City, Scenic Rim, Somerset, South Burnett, Southern Downs, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and local government areas, those eligible will be able to receive up to $1,000 per adult and $400 per child.
Parts of the CBD have been evacuated as police maintain a keen eye on a 150-tonne crane that could sail down the Brisbane River. The crane, on top of a 400-tonne barge, is currently moored at Kangaroo Point but is at risk of coming completely loose.
Residents in the flooded neighbourhood of Rosalie have taken to erecting their own road signs until the water subsides.#brisbaneflood pic.twitter.com/acL0ISEgXi
— Mary Lloyd 🇿🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿📷🎥🖊 (@MaryLloyd4) February 28, 2022
“It’s still tethered at the moment … but it has some integrity issues along with its tethering and we are concerned that those tethers may break,” Police Minister Mark Ryan said.
Captain Burke Park under the Story Bridge has been cleared as well as areas along the riverside at Eagle Street Pier and Howard Smith Wharves. People have also been urged to stay home and work from home if it is possible to do so.
To check updated flood modelling, use the Brisbane Council website here.
For all council updates and impacts, make sure to check the website here.