Climate chaos in Australia

Biblical floods in one part of Australia while the other end burns

Central Queensland floods

Dramatic rescues have been carried out in central Queensland, with parts of Rockhampton underwater after its wettest day in more than 60 years.

TVNZ,

25 January, 2013

Rockhampton councillor Bill Ludwig said many streets in the city are now under water, and "very destructive winds" are also being felt from the low pressure system that was cyclone Oswald.

The system is currently sitting about 120km west of Mackay and is expected to cause flooding in communities further south in coming days.

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Ludwig said the situation in Rockhampton is serious, and told residents to stay off the streets.

"They're saying this is not a cyclone but it's not far off it," he said.

He said he wasn't game to leave the building where he was on Friday, because the wind had left a large sheet of corrugated iron flapping from a nearby building.

"I haven't seen water like this on our roads. I've come in from a rural location and it was pretty hairy to say the least."

Swift water rescues

There have been about 20 swift water rescues in central Queensland overnight and this morning.

The most dramatic happened in the Rockhampton suburb of Frenchville, where a rescuer was swept away after dragging a 14-year-old boy to safety.

The rescuer was able to make his own way to safety, but not before he was swept under a nearby bridge, the ABC reports.

The boy has been taken to hospital as a precaution.

Meanwhile, a house in Frenchville has been hit by a large landslide, the Department of Community Safety told AAP.

The house is still standing but debris is piled up against the first floor of the two storey house in Archer View Terrace.

No one was injured and the residents have called for council help.

There were numerous other rescues in the past 12 hours, including one by a bystander who dragged a motorist to safety from his flooded car after he tried to drive through floodwaters west of Rockhampton.

The driver was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

More than 70 roads, including major highways, have been cut by floodwaters across the state, since Oswald was downgraded to a low after crossing the Cape York Peninsula's west coast on Tuesday.

At Yeppoon, northeast or Rockhampton, more than 10 homes have flooded and people are sandbagging other properties in a bid to save them, the ABC reports.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Rockhampton had recorded its wettest day since 1939, with 349mm falling in the 24 hours to 9am (AEST) on Friday, and it's not over yet.

The city is expected to get at least another 100mm over the next 12 hours. But by tomorrow, the heaviest falls are expected to be further south.

At this stage, authorities are not expecting the Fitzroy River to break its banks at Rockhampton but it is expected to reach minor flood levels.

At Gladstone, south of Rockhampton, the city's sewage system is overflowing, sending excrement into people's homes.

The local council is using sandbags to try to weigh down manholes to prevent the problem from becoming worse.

"It comes up through man holes and bubbles into properties. It's not pleasant," Gladstone Mayor Gail Sellers told ABC radio.

Supermarket giant Coles said supplies to 26 of its 32 stores in far north Queensland had been affected by the torrential rain and flooding.

Stores in Rockhampton and at Yeppoon had also been forced to close.

With rail lines cut, supplies are being trucked from Townsville to Cairns via Charters Towers.

"We ask our customers to be patient and not to panic buy as there are groceries on the way," Coles managing director Ian McLeod said.

The state and federal government on Friday said more assistance would be made available for flood-hit communities in the far north.

Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) have been extended to the local government areas of Cassowary Coast, Hinchinbrook, Hope Vale, Palm Island and Wujal Wujal.

That takes the number of councils eligible for assistance to 19.

Dam release plans

Water levels in southeast Queensland dams will be reduced to protect urban areas from any flooding associated with ex-tropical cyclone Oswald.

Premier Campbell Newman said water levels in Wivenhoe/Somerset and North Pine dams would begin on Friday afternoon, as a precaution.

"We're adopting a precautionary principle here," he told reporters.

Newman said Wivenhoe dam was nowhere near the levels seen before the January 2011 flood.

He said the dam's entire 1.42 megalitres of flood storage capacity was still available, in addition to some capacity for drinking water supplies.

But Newman said he wanted to give the southeast the biggest buffer he could to ensure the safety of residents, and the protection of their property.

"I am concerned, but I'm not worried," the premier said.

He said that even without the dam drawdowns, he'd been assured that "we have enough in that 1.4 megalitre flood storage compartment to take what's coming".

But he said Oswald and the low it has become had proven to be an unpredictable weather system, and the drawdowns were about providing additional security and peace of mind.

"Let's make sure we look at what could happen, in the worst case," Mr Newman said.

Newman said the greatest risk at this time was considered to be urban flooding in the usual low-lying areas close to creeks and stormwater drains.

Asked if he could categorically rule out a repeat of the 2010-11 floods he replied: "Of course, nobody can do that."

But he said with the capacity available in the dams that was extremely unlikely.

Water Supply Minister Mark McArdle said 41,000 megalitres would be released from Wivenhoe dam over 24 hours from Friday afternoon and 8000 megalitres will be released from North Pine Dam over 11 hours from Friday afternoon.