Australia – Days of Heavy Rain Cause Flooding in North Eastern Queensland

Days of heavy rainfall along the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, resulted in flooding in the district of Townsville.

Queensland Police said officers were deployed to multiple roadways within the Townsville District which had been temporarily closed due to wet weather, flooding or closed due to damage caused as a result of the severe weather event.

In nearby Giru, the Haughton river burst its banks, with levels reaching 3.1 metres, well above flood stage of 2.5 m. Roads in the town were inundated with flood water up to 1 metre deep. Local State Emergency Service (SES) controllers said no homes were flooded however.

Levels of the Haughton should return to normal soon. on Friday 02 March, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issued its final flood warning for the Haughton, saying the river level continued to ease and no further significant rain was expected in coming days.

Levels of two dams near Townsville have increased dramatically. Townsville authorities say that the Paluma Dam is now at 99% capacity and the Ross River at more than 80 %. This has increased from around 15% capacity just a few days earlier.

Earlier this week heavy rain affected parts of Brisbane, Queensland, where at least 11 flood rescues were carried out, as well as parts of northern New South Wales, where the town of Casino recorded over 100 mm of rain in 1 hour.

More rain is forecast for Queensland over the coming days, this time in north western and central areas. BoM said that some places could see 300 mm of rain or more in a 24 hour period.

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