The rain event that has impacted the Queensland east coast is slowly drawing to an end. Rain will increase for coastal areas between Gladstone and Bundaberg on Thursday night into Friday but will ease by the weekend. Rain may be heavy at times, with the possibility of storms, so the Bureau of Meteorology will keep a severe weather warning in place.
Whilst current modelling indicates that river flooding is not expected, there is currently a Flood Watch in place for rivers between Gladstone and Bundaberg – the Flood Watch is based on forecast rainfall and reminds communities to be vigilant when there is inclement weather about. River catchments likely to see the highest rainfall over the next 24 hours include Baffle Creek, Kolan River and eastern parts of the Burnett River. Bundaberg Regional Council and the Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) will be monitoring rainfall overnight and through Friday as the rain continues.
Over the last couple of days the LDMG has been maintaining a watching brief as the system causing the rain impacted parts of the coast further north. This afternoon the Local Disaster Management Group moved to “Alert” activation level as the system is now closer to Bundaberg. This puts the LDMG and Council on the front foot to respond to any unexpected developments in the weather.
Mayor Mal Forman this afternoon said: “The main message I want to provide is to be alert but not alarmed. It’s going to rain, sometimes heavy, but we aren’t expecting significant problems from this rain. Be prepared, watch the weather and listen to official weather forecasts and warnings”.
The LDMG will review overnight rainfall on Friday morning as well as Bureau of Meteorology warnings and forecasts; further advice to the community will be based on this information.
ENDS