Emergency declared as river rises in St George
An emergency situation has been declared in Queensland’s southwest town of St George with major flooding expected.
Floodwaters in St George are expected to peak on Wednesday night close to the 1950 level. (Photo: ABC Southern Queensland: Peter Gunders)
Police say St George is bracing for flooding on Tuesday and Wednesday after weekend downpours.
The Balonne River may peak at 12.5m overnight on Wednesday.
The town of Dirranbandi is also preparing for major flooding later in the week.
An emergency declaration was issued for St George by Queensland Police on Tuesday morning.
Police have asked residents to avoid the use of personal watercraft in the water system.
The declaration has been issued for the Balonne River from Beardmore Dam to the Queensland-New South Wales border.
Beardmore Dam, which supplies water to St George, has been spilling for almost a fortnight.
The dam was on the brink of being empty at the start of February and filled in less than two weeks according to Sunwater.
“In 10 days Beardmore Dam increased by 94 per cent from six per cent to 100 per cent,” a Sunwater spokesperson said.
“Sunwater expects that inflows will provide more than 12 months’ urban water supply to St George.”
Towns across the state’s southwest and southern interior have experienced flooding this week.
Charleville, Mitchell and Surat have all experienced flooding after the recent downpours.
Queensland’s southern interior and southwest region’s have been crippled by drought.
A severe weather warning also remains in place for the Gulf Country and northwest Queensland in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Esther.
The system has transitioned to a tropical low and will continue to bring heavy rain and damaging wind as it weakens.
It made landfall as a category one system on Monday afternoon and is now moving west through the Northern Territory.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services’ Emergency Management Coordinator, Elliot Dunn, said dozens of properties on Mornington Island lost power, but structural damage from the system was minimal.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Gabriel Branescu said from that Thursday, the south-east quarter of the state could expect more thunderstorm activity, bringing further rains.
“With the next upper trough we will see a little bit of severe thunderstorm activity,” he said.
– AAP/ABC
