A severe weather warning has been issued for the southeast coast of Queensland, with fears heavy rain may lead to flash flooding.
Up to 350mm of rainfall is possible over the next 24 hours over parts of the South East Coast and the far southeastern Wide Bay and Burnett areas, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
It is unclear exactly when the heavy rain may fall, the Bureau said, but it is expected to hit these areas gradually over Tuesday afternoon and evening.
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Residents in the area have been warned to stay alert even if rain appears to momentarily ease.
“Just be aware that the situation may still intensify very quickly with that risk of flash flooding returning,” Bureau meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said.
Moderate flood warnings have been issued for the Albert and Logan rivers in southeast Queensland, while a minor flood warning has been issued in the northeast of the state for the Tweed and Richmond rivers.
ADF steps in to help
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) will be sent into southeast Queensland to help with recovery following storms and heavy rain.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said 50 ADF personnel will head to the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan from Thursday.
“We know that right across those three councils there remains quite a lot of the energy network which needs replacement, power lines that are down,” he said.
“The ADF personnel will in particular be focusing on the clearance of debris to make it easier to access that infrastructure and get it repaired and reconnected.”
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said this was “a good start”.
“Let’s see the assessment and then let’s see what sort of equipment we can incorporate with that,” he said.
“I’d imagine that number will increase … but once they’re on the ground we’ll make a recovery plan.”
About 11,000 homes are still without power since storms lashed the southeast on Christmas Day.
“We know how frustrating it is, we know how difficult it is for families, in particular at this time of the year but we’re working as hard as we can to get that power restored,” Deputy Premier Cameron Dick said.
There have been 700 calls to the SES for help in the past 24 hours, with 50 people needing rescue from flood waters.
On Monday evening 44 people were rescued from a campground inundated with floodwater in the Gold Coast hinterland. One person was transported to hospital with minor injuries.
At Cedar Creek, southwest of Ormeau, more than 300mm of rain had fallen in the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday, while North Tamborine got 261mm and 246mm fell at Beenleigh.
Gold Coast theme parks — Movie World, Wet ‘n’ Wild, Dreamworld and Whitewater World — closed on Tuesday due to the downpour.