Category Archives: Queensland

Townsville dam floodgates fully opened, putting more homes at risk

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Residents urged to seek higher ground as water surges at 2,000 cubic metres a minute from Ross river dam

Residents in the Queensland city of Townsville – where up to 500 homes are already under water – were urged to seek higher ground on Sunday as heavy downpours forced the floodgates to the city’s swollen Ross river dam to be completely opened.

A heavy deluge of rain on Sunday pushed dam levels to almost 250% capacity with authorities having to open the floodgates, almost doubling the amount of water flowing out of the catchment.

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Queensland floods: Townsville reels under record water levels as more rain arrives

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There are several more days to go in this flood event, Bureau of Meteorology warns

Queensland authorities have said the state’s north was entering “unprecedented territory” as monsoon rains battered the city of Townsville, setting record flood levels and destroying homes.

As the natural disaster entered its four day, the state emergency service confirmed on Saturday that 80 people had been rescued. It was too early to quantify the damage to homes, although some media reports said at least 50 homes had been affected so far.

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Queensland warned to prepare for ‘dangerous’ flooding as premier declares disaster

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Bureau of Meteorology expecting rainfall totals of up to 400mm per day for multiple days

Residents in northern Queensland have been warned to prepare for more downpours and flooding over the weekend and into next week amid a monsoon that has dumped more than 1.2 metres of rain in some places.

A huge swath of the state stretching 850km from Daintree in far north Queensland to Mackay in the southern end of the tropical belt has been designated as a flood watch zone. The area includes the Great Barrier Reef tourist centre of Cairns as well as parts of Cape York peninsula in the far north.

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Queensland floods: emergency dam release as Townsville hit by 1.1 metre of rain

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Up to 100 more homes face flooding after mayor orders high-risk plan to open floodgates on the Ross River dam

One hundred homes could be flooded in Townsville after the city’s mayor sanctioned the high-risk release of dam water to save the area from more widespread inundation following more than 1.1 metres of rain.

Announcing the emergency measure for the Ross River dam on Friday, the mayor Jenny Hill said there were no guarantees the plan would work. Between 90 and 100 homes downstream from the dam were being evacuated, she added.

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Daintree River flooding: hundreds cut off after deluge breaks peak record

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Ferry crossing in far-north Queensland closed after 500mm of rain in 24 hours pushed river to highest level in 118 years

Hundreds of people remain cut off after a deluge pushed far-north Queensland’s Daintree River to a record level.

The river peaked at close to 12.6 metres on Saturday night, breaking a record that stood for 118 years.

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Man arrested over Gold Coast balcony death of Breeana Robinson in 2013

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Cheerleader was allegedly thrown off 11th-floor balcony of luxury Southport apartment

A man is expected to face court accused of throwing a Gold Coast cheerleader off an 11th-floor balcony six years ago.

Breeana Robinson, 21, died when she plunged from the balcony of a luxury Southport apartment in January 2013.

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Temperatures to soar as heatwave hits every state and territory

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Much of Australia will bake this week with meteorologists forecasting the hot conditions will last for days in some parts

Every state and territory will bake through a heatwave on Monday with meteorologists saying soaring temperatures will last for days in some parts.

The Bureau of Meteorology said hot days were expected in January but multiple days in a row of temperatures above 40C were unusual.

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Jellyfish sting more than 5,000 holidaymakers on Queensland’s coast

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An invasion of bluebottles on Queensland’s Gold and Sunshine coasts led to thousands being treated

More than 5,000 people were stung by bluebottles on Queensland’s Gold and Sunshine coasts over the weekend as weather drove a wall of jellyfish onto the shore.

Conditions eased on Monday but remnants of the bluebottle armada (the correct term for a bunch of bluebottles) still dot the beaches and more than 200 people were treated for stings, mostly at the Sunshine Coast.

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