Alfred flooding threat lingers as homes go under
South-east Queensland remains on flood watch after the region received more than one metre of rainfall.
South-east Queensland remains on flood watch with river levels rising, as observations reveal the region received more than one metre of rainfall from Cyclone Alfred.
More rainfall and thunderstorms storms associated with the ex-tropical cyclone were expected in flood-hit areas on Tuesday.
The Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane and Hervey Bay north of the Sunshine Coast were inundated on Monday, adding to the toll of damaged houses.
Major flood warnings were issued for the Albert and Logan Rivers at the Gold Coast, the Bremer River and Warrill Creek at Ipswich east of Brisbane as well as Lockyer and Laidley creeks.
South of the border, residents have returned home as evacuation orders were lifted in some northern NSW towns.
Streets underwater in Brisbane’s inner-city suburb of Newmarket on Monday. Image: AAP
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Rainfall observations from the past five days show Cyclone Alfred’s protracted journey to landfall dumped some of the biggest falls in decades, according to Weatherzone.
Brisbane had its wettest day since January 26, 1974, with 272.5 millimetres.
The rain started falling in eastern Australia on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. It intensified towards the end of the week as Alfred made landfall as a tropical low on Saturday night and headed inland into Monday.
Some of the highest falls in the 120 hours to Monday (at 9am) were:
- 1111 millimetres at Upper Springbrook, Queensland
- 1010 millimetres at Lower Springbrook, Queensland
- 850 millimetres at Dorrigo, NSW
- 820 millimetres at Tallebudgera Creek Dam, Queensland
- 721 millimetres at Huonbrook, NSW
Weatherzone said the the biggest daily rainfall totals from the past five days were in the 24 hours to 9am on Monday, after Alfred had crossed the coast, including:
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- 433 millimetres at Diamond Valley, Queensland
- 410 millimetres at Wongawallan, Queensland
- 391 millimetres at West Woombeye, Queensland
- 357 millimetres at Kingsholme (Montego Hills), Queensland
- 282 millimetres at Tomewin, NSW
- 275.2 millimetres at Brisbane, Queensland
Other areas were hit by slow-moving thunderstorms associated with the ex-cyclone. They included Hervey Bay, which got 224 millimetres of rain in three hours on Sunday morning, and Maleny, on the Sunshine Coast hinterland, where there was 112 millimetres in three hours on Monday morning.
A record 450,000 people in Queensland’s south-east have been affected by power outages since Thursday last week. Energy company Energex said it was the state’s greatest outage caused by a natural disaster.
Some 353 public schools will reopen on Tuesday but hundreds more remain shut.
The area is slowly returning to a sense of normality, with supermarkets, airports and select Brisbane bus services operating again. However, the Warrego Highway connecting Brisbane to Toowoomba is closed until further notice.
NSW Premier Chris Minns warned evacuation centres for 700 people must shut once warnings are lifted as they’re not meant to be a long-term fix.
One stranded resident, who gave her name only as Tina, hoped the renewed attention on the emergency would lead to greater action.
“What’s happening out there is ridiculous, there are women over 55 all in their cars,” Tina said.
“I couldn’t imagine being in our caravan through (Alfred).”
Some 1800 people were isolated by floodwaters in NSW on Monday and more than 10,000 people were under emergency warnings.
Health authorities have urged residents not to wade into floodwaters as they may contain faeces, chemicals, industrial waste, snakes, sharp objects and a potentially deadly bacterial disease.
Soil-borne melioidosis has already claimed 16 lives in north Queensland in 2025 after record February rainfall triggered floods that forced hundreds to evacuate.
