source : the age
Thousands of people could be isolated for days as residents wait to assess the extent of flooding in the Queensland coastal city of Bundaberg following days of intense rain.
Triggering memories of the 2010 flooding disaster, homes and businesses have been inundated after a tropical low dumped more than 300 millimetres of rain in the already sodden Burnett River catchment, cutting off Bundaberg’s two main bridges.
Authorities expected the river to peak at 7.4 metres on Wednesday, below the 7.6 metres initially forecast by the weather bureau.
Residents woke to blue skies on Wednesday and were hopeful flooding would not reach 7.6 metres – just 30 centimetres shy of 2010 levels that forced about 400 people to evacuate.
It is also well short of a 2013 disaster when record 9.53 metre floodwater damaged infrastructure and about 4000 homes.
The peak was expected to impact 280 homes and 120 businesses in the city of more than 70,000 people.
Attention is turning further west, where the residents of Chinchilla are closely watching the banks of Charleys Creek, which is expected to peak on Thursday.
Locals were on a “knife’s edge” amid fears floodwater would close in on their homes, Premier David Crisafulli said.
Flood peaks are also set to hit Longreach and Bedourie within days.
The news
Floodwater rose in Bundaberg overnight, forcing about 200 people to seek shelter at an evacuation centre while two motorists needed to be plucked from their cars.
Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded and a handful of schools closed, while about 2500 people lost power.
Locals were asked to leave immediately late on Tuesday before the community’s two major bridges were shut down, leaving about 10,000 people on the city’s northside isolated – potentially for days.
Chief Inspector Grant Marcus, the region’s disaster co-ordinator, expressed his frustration at the two motorists who drove into floodwater – one on Tuesday night and another on Wednesday morning.
“Quite simply, it was another idiot driving through floodwaters,” Marcus said.
“Some people just don’t understand the message, which once again puts our people at risk.”
Bundaberg Hospital remained operational, despite flooding in the car park.
What they said
Marcus assured residents there was no need for panic buying.
“The shops are being filled with supplies, fuel is coming in – there’s no need to rush out and fill up your kitchen cupboards and fridges,” he said.
Crisafulli, who travelled to Bundaberg on Tuesday evening, said some residents had endured four major flooding events in 15 years.
“That’s a big blow. And it’s hard to keep picking yourself off the canvas,” he said.
“Proud communities like this find a way to keep bouncing back, but just because they’re resilient doesn’t mean they should be left to their own devices.
“This has been a system and season that has tested us in a big way across a large part of the state, but overwhelmingly people have handled it with great strength and resilience.”
Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn acknowledged the mental health impacts on people who had been caught up in previous floods, and implored them to put their personal safety first.
“We’re not new to this, we’ve done it before,” she said. “We can replace possessions. We can’t replace people.”
Road closures
Crisafulli confirmed the Bruce Highway had reopened, although more than 640 roads remained affected across the state.
He said bridge engineers had been deployed early to Bundaberg so roads could be reopened more quickly.
Blackburn said the water level needed to fall below seven metres, which might not happen for another day or two, before the Tallon and Burnett bridges could be reopened.
More than 70 roads were closed across the Bundaberg region, including the Isis Highway and on several roads across Bundaberg South, Bundaberg Central, Sharon and Welcome Creek.
A full list of road conditions can be found on the Bundaberg Regional Council disaster dashboard.
Stock losses
At least 1200 head of cattle have already been lost along with 1000 kilometres of fencing, the premier said.
“Immense” crop losses were also expected, Crisafulli adding that the state and federal governments would work together to support farmers.
Power outages
More than 2500 properties lost power, including in Bundaberg Central, Sharon, Bundaberg South, Bundaberg North, Bundaberg East, Wallaville, Bundaberg West and Bungadoo.
Police said parts of the city had also been de-energised for safety purposes.
“The aim will be to look at those individually and determine when we need to re-energise those,” Marcus said.
School closures
Eight schools in the region closed on Wednesday, including three state schools and five independent schools:
- Bundaberg East State School
- Sharon State School
- Kolan South State School
- St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
- Impact Community Academy
- Mungalla Silver Lining School
- St John’s Lutheran Primary School
- Wadja Wadja High School
Bundaberg Central State School’s oval and playground areas have been flooded.
Emergency warnings
An emergency warning urging people in the Bundaberg North, Bundaberg East, Bundaberg South and Bundaberg Central areas to leave immediately was issued at lunchtime on Tuesday.
“Your life is at risk,” the warning advised.
The Bundaberg Recreational Precinct on Kendalls Road at Branyan has been established as an evacuation centre.
Flooding in the Northern Territory
Flooding has also affected the Northern Territory.
More rain has stalled the clean-up at Katherine, where hundreds of people remain in shelters, houses are still without power and crocodiles have been spotted in floodwater.
Hundreds of residents from the communities of Daly River, Palumpa, Beswick and Jilkminggan were airlifted at the weekend, mostly to Darwin.
Residents in the NT capital have been asked to minimise water use after flooding shut down a Darwin River Dam pump station.
Temporary generators have been put in place, with the full water supply set to return in the coming days.
with AAP
