While Brisbane has largely been spared from potential flooding, the city can expect a stark shift in the weather tomorrow.
While Brisbane has largely been spared from potential flooding, the city can expect a stark shift in the weather tomorrow.
By Courtney Kruk and Laine Clark
March 29, 2025 — 1.34pm
Sections of the Bruce Highway have been cut off and flood warnings have been issued in the south-east as unprecedented rain continues to inundate Queensland.
Flood watches are active in Brisbane and on the Gold and Sunshine coasts, with emergency warnings issued for Currumbin Valley and a watch and act alert for Tallebudgera following heavy rain overnight.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan How said northern parts of the Sunshine Coast towards Wide Bay copped the heaviest totals overnight, with some areas recording up to 300 millimetres.
“Around the northern suburbs [of Brisbane] up towards the Sunshine Coast, we did see between 100 and 200 millimetres too … and falls in excess of 100 millimetres towards the Gold Coast hinterland,” he said.
Further north, the Bruce Highway was closed between Gympie and Maryborough following heavy rain and flash flooding in the region.
While Brisbane had been preparing for flash flooding on Saturday – with Seqwater releases from Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams on Friday – the city had only seen between 30 and 40 millimetres by Saturday afternoon.
How said other south-east regions would remain on alert, but Brisbane had largely been spared from potential flooding.
“The good news is, the bulk of the rain is now moving offshore,” he said.
The city can expect a stark weather shift tomorrow though, with a mostly sunny day and a top of 33 degrees.
Advertisement
But while the capital dodged the worst of the rain, areas further west were not so lucky, experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years, with records surpassing the 1974 floods following days of heavy rain.
Loading
Floodwaters cut roads and isolated communities, forcing many to flee, including the residents of an entire town.
On Friday, the population of Avadale – a south-west community of about 30 people – was evacuated by helicopter to nearby Quilpie after being inundated.
Central Queensland’s Stonehenge, Jundah and Windorah have also been hit hard after some areas recorded up to 600mm – almost double the average annual rainfall.
Premier David Crisafulli has already turned his attention to the aftermath, activating personal hardship assistance along with concessional loans and freight subsidies to help primary producers in a string of western Queensland communities.
“We do have a crisis when it comes to the impact of agriculture in a large part of our state,” he told reporters in Quilpie on Friday.
“You are dealing with many, many hundreds of thousands of acres of country that will be inundated.
“You’ve got somewhere in the order of a million head of cattle, a million sheep who are impacted at the moment, and we could see stock losses into the hundreds of thousands.
“In the short term, we have to get fodder to try, wherever humanly possible, to keep stock alive. In the longer term, we have to make sure that we can help these communities rebuild.”
Speaking at a disaster management meeting on Saturday morning, Police Minister Dan Purdie said the state had deployed “a lot of assets on the ground” and would continue to provide support in affected regions.
With AAP
Start the day with a summary of the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Courtney Kruk is City Reporter at Brisbane Times, writing about the city and its people.
Loading