Flood information - links

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https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1227372142053949441

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https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1227393512083091456

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https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1227409040671723521

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http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ21033.shtml

IDQ21033

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST

Severe Thunderstorm Warning
for HEAVY RAINFALL
For people in Southeast Coast and parts of Wide Bay and Burnett and Darling Downs and Granite Belt Forecast Districts.

Issued at 5:15 pm Wednesday, 12 February 2020.
Slow moving thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall and flash flooding over the Burnett, Southeast Coast and southern Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts.

Weather Situation:
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Warwick, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Gympie, Ipswich, Kingaroy, Coolangatta, Stanthorpe, Caboolture, Cleveland, Gatton and Jimboomba.
90 mm of rainfall was recorded at Mount Walsh east of Gayndah in the hour to 17:15pm AEST.

https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1227456513461170177

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Couriermail --> Severe thunderstorm warning issued for southeast Queensland

PARTS of the southeast Queensland have been hammered by significant rainfalls of more than 200mm, causing widespread flooding that has submerged cars and caused transport chaos across the region.

The Sunshine Coast was one of the worst hit areas. At 12:40am the Sunshine Coast Airport had received 213mm, Woombye 185mm and Nambour 187mm since 9am Wednesday.

Also in the region, Yandina was pelted with 70mm in an hour, while Doonan Creek and Tewantin received 62mm.

The Bureau of Meteorology continues to warn of storms that will bring heavy rain and flash flooding across parts of the southeast.

Woleebee, near Wandoan has been pelted by 125mm of rainfall today, while Darr Creek north of Jandowae and Cooranga North, east of Jandowae has received 79mm and 76mm respectively.

Mount Walsh, east of Gayndah, received 90mm in the hour until 5.15pm.

Localised flash flooding is affecting the Gateway Motorway at various locations including Belmont in Brisbane's southeast after the city received more than 50mm.

An emergency alert remains in place for the Western Downs with the Jandowae Creek and Jimbour Plain expected to peak causing major flooding during the night.

QFES warned residents properties are likely to experience flooding.

Several flood warnings remain in place across the state including a major flood warning for the Condamine River and Charleys Creek, and Georgina River.

The Bureau of Meteorology says major flood levels are possible along the Condamine River at Chinchilla Weir and Charleys Creek later in the week.

Moderate flood levels are possible along the upper Brisbane River and minor flood levels are expected along the Stanley River overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning, while in initial flood warning is also in place for the Logan and Albert rivers.

River level rises are likely in the upper catchment of the Logan and Albert Rivers including the Teviot Brook overnight Wednesday into Thursday. ...

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https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1227730296658890752

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https://twitter.com/JoshBavas/status/1228446369066602496

Dam video > https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/news/video/202002/CNs_DamWall_1502_256k.mp4

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https://twitter.com/JohnpaulGonzo/status/1228457005787934720

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Brisbanetimes --> Dam operator Seqwater will appeal 2011 flood class action finding

Thousands of victims of the 2011 Brisbane flood have learned a Queensland dam operator will appeal a court decision finding it partly responsible for water damage.

A lawyer for Seqwater confirmed on Friday it would appeal the NSW Supreme Court finding that nearly 7000 flood victims were failed by engineers operating its Wivenhoe and Somerset dams.

The dams weren't operated according to the rules, exacerbating downstream flooding when a deluge of "biblical" proportions fell after days of earlier rain, Justice Robert Beech-Jones found in November.

More water should have been released earlier, he said.

Another state-owned entity that provided flood management services to Seqwater has also filed a notice of intention to appeal.

But Sunwater's lawyer told the court on Friday he was awaiting final instructions on whether to proceed with the challenge.

The State of Queensland, the third defendant, has ruled out appealing.

Damages could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, placing it among the biggest class-action payouts in Australian legal history, lawyers for victims had said.

"Real justice, that is compensating our clients, feels that much further away (because of this appeal)," Maurice Blackburn lawyer Rebecca Gilsenan told reporters outside court in Sydney.

"Their hearts are sinking."

Former Ipswich councillor and flood class action claimant Paul Tully said the appeal process would add to the distress victims have experienced over "nine long and tortuous years".

"These insurance companies are toying with people's lives and futures," he said in a statement.

"They are corporate scumbags just delaying the inevitable. They make Scrooge look like an honourable citizen."

While Seqwater prepares its grounds for appeal, mediation between the parties will commence.

"We're happy to mediate immediately," Julian Sexton, SC, for the victims, told the court on Friday.

Each defendant will need to tell the court by April 9 how it believes the eventual damages payout should be divided among them.

The matter is scheduled to return to court on April 29 for further case management.

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Couriermail --> St George faces major flooding as heavy rain inundates Queensland's southwest regions

MAJOR flooding is occurring across southwest Queensland with parts of St George bracing for significant inundation tonight.

The town's local disaster management group does not expect an already flooded Balonne River to peak until Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.

It is expected to exceed 11.1 metres, which threatens to flood low-lying properties and cut the Balonne Hwy.

Further showers and storms are possible today although the rainfall is not expected to be as heavy.

Falls in excess of 250mm was recorded in many parts of southwest Queensland across the weekend.

Muckadilla, west of Roma, received 183mm, more than was received for all of 2019.

The Warrego, Carnarvon and Balonne Hwys are all cut in parts due to flooding. For a full list of road closures, go to qldtraffic.qld.gov.au.

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Brisbanetimes --> Government's dam operators to appeal 2011 flood class action

The landmark class action victory for Queensland flood victims will be appealed by the state government's dam operators.

Both Sunwater and Seqwater, which were found partly responsible for water damage to almost 7000 homes, have confirmed they will appeal the NSW Supreme Court finding.

The Queensland government decided last year it would not appeal the decision.

Seqwater, the operator of the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams, announced last week it would formally advise the court of its intention to appeal.

Regional dam operator Sunwater issued a statement on Friday.

"Sunwater will today advise the New South Wales Supreme Court it is appealing the 2011 Queensland Floods Class Action judgement," the Sunwater statement read.

"This decision was made after a thorough review of the judgement with its insurers.

"Sunwater will not make any further comments while the appeal process is underway."

Some law firms suggest the bill could run to a billion dollars, making it one of the biggest class action payouts in Australian history

Responding to the news on Twitter, Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk " had the power to direct her government-owned corporations to not undertake this cruel action".

"Sunwater will now slug taxpayers to defend itself in court. The people of Ipswich deserve better than this," she said.

The Premier's office said the state would not challenge the decision and "no further comment is possible due to legal proceedings involving (Seqwater, Sunwater) and their insurers".

Former Ipswich councillor and flood class action claimant Paul Tully previously said an appeal would be a "massive kick in the guts almost as bad as the flood itself".

"This will now drag on for another two or three years through the Court of Appeal and the High Court," Mr Tully said in December.

"Seqwater and Sunwater are toying with people's lives and futures."

More than 23,000 Brisbane and Ipswich properties were affected by the floodwaters, which raised the Brisbane River to a peak of 4.46 metres. The Bremer River reached a height of 19.4 metres.

Statewide, the financial cost totalled $3.2 billion across about 90 towns. Thirty-five people lost their lives.

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https://twitter.com/PaulTully/status/1233274018867712000

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https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1237636039595790341

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Gizmodo---> Why The Covid-19 Related Drop In Air Travel Could Make Weather Forecasts Less Accurate

Amid the covid-19 pandemic, everyone's cancelling their flights. To prevent the spread of the virus, countries are enforcing strict travel bans and encouraging social distancing, which means no air travel unless absolutely necessary. Airlines are taking huge hits: Southwest's planes are just 20 per cent full, Delta's CEO said the demand fall-off is "unlike anything we've seen," and the low-cost UK airline EasyJet has cancelled all service.

The drop in flights could have an effect beyond the aviation industry's bottom line. It could hamper scientists' ability to make weather predictions.

Aircrafts continually transmit data to forecasting centres. Generally, planes can transmit up to 230,000 weather observations per day, offering the only regular look at the upper atmosphere. The data they collect on air pressure, temperature, cloud height, and more are a crucial part of the weather forecast. Studies show that these aircraft observations reduced errors in meteorologists' six-hour weather predictions by 15 to 30 per cent.

In a press release, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), raised the alarm of what the loss of flight data—which it said is second only to satellite data in terms of value to forecasting—means. The centre runs the Euro, one of the best (if not the best) weather models in the world. Without the data to feed it, forecasters are essentially flying with blinders on.

From March 3 to March 23, the institution said they received 65 fewer reports from planes flying over Europe, and 42 per cent fewer reports from planes around the world. They say data from recently installed satellites will help mitigate the drop in aircraft-based observations, but as the covid-19 pandemic continues, even fewer aircrafts may take flight, which could affect forecasting all over the world.

We like to say weather can't stop, won't stop for anything but COVID has unintended consequences in the weather sector. Reducing the number of aircrafts limits the amount of data being ingested into NWP models, leading to less accurate model forecasts.https://t.co/PUKeweB8os

— Andrew Markowitz (@amarkowitzWX) March 24, 2020

The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) says it's not yet possible to quantify the exact impact this reduction will have. The agency runs a rival weather model known as the GFS.

"The decrease is only occurring for certain flights and routes, and while there is a reduction of commercial passenger flights, we still receive valuable aircraft data from overnight cargo and package carriers," Susan Buchanan, the National Weather Service's director of public affairs, told Gizmodo in an email, noting it won't necessarily make meteorologists' prediction less accurate. "While the automated weather reports from commercial aircrafts provide exceptionally valuable data for forecast models, we also collect billions of Earth observations from other sources that feed into our models, such as weather balloons, surface weather observation network, radar, satellites and buoys."

The agency will soon have access to data from a new satellite constellation that could further aid in making up the gap. But in ECMWF's press release, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (which oversees NWS) information specialist Christopher Hill didn't seem quite as confident.

"We are anticipating the substantial reduction in the availability of U.S. AMDAR[Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay] data to continue over the coming weeks, likely to generate some measure of impact on the output of our numerical weather prediction systems," he said.

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PARADISE DAM OPTIONS ASSESSMENT

http://buildingqueensland.qld.gov.au/business-case/paradise-dam-options-assessment/

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https://twitter.com/sarahelks/status/1252396560098320384

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Couriermail --> 2011 floods class action: State moves to pay just 1% of damages

QUEENSLAND'S 2011 floods victims, who last year won an historic class action against the State Government, may end up with a pittance which "won't even cover the cost of a flat screen TV.''

As parties involved in the class action prepare for a damages hearing in the NSW Supreme Court tomorrow, flood victims are still reeling at news the Queensland Government hopes to pay just 1 per cent of damages.

Flood victim and Ipswich councillor Paul Tully said up to 7000 claimants in the class action had been thrilled late last year when the NSW Supreme Court found in favour of the class action bought by lawyers Maurice Blackburn.

But they have been stunned by news he State Government would argue it was responsible for less than 1 per cent of the damage arising from the flood.

Maurice Blackburn said the state was taking the position that flood engineers employed by the state were not as responsible as the other engineers involved in dam management who were not employed by the state.

Cr Tully, who lost his family home at Goodna in the floods, said the State Government had made an appalling decision to try and downsize its payout to victims.

He said even if a victim qualified for a $100,000 payout, they would end up with a pittance if the State Government had its way.

"Under the Government's proposal you could deserve a $100,000 payout and end up with not even enough money to buy a good flat-screen TV,'' he said.

"It is just appalling behaviour on behalf of the State Government.''

Maurice Blackburn based its successful class action on a simple proposition: that engineers had allowed too much water to accumulate in dams, including the massive Wivenhoe Dam above Brisbane, in the lead-up to the January 2011 floods.

Maurice Blackburn lawyers argued that when the massive rain event was at its peak, large volumes of water were released from dams and contributed extensively to flooding, which caused hundreds of millions of dollars' damage to houses and businesses in southeast Queensland.

The law firm says Seqwater should be liable for 50 per cent of damages, SunWater for 25 per cent and the state itself 25 per cent.

The Government has said it will not appeal the decision on the class action, but would refrain from further comment until other matters related to the matter were determined by the courts.

The three-day hearing will be held via videoconference.

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Queensland Times --> ]Flood victims frustrated with government buck-passing

VICTIMS of the 2011 floods have been left angry and frustrated by revelations they could be denied more than 90 per cent of compensation.

The victims last year won a class action against the State Government, with a judge ruling the Queensland Government, along with Seqwater and Sunwater, exacerbated the flooding that destroyed thousands of houses.

However, during a damages hearing last week, it was revealed the State Government was arguing it was responsible for less than 1 per cent of the damage arising from the floods.

Naomi Mason was a member of the class action, after her Vernor home, less than 8km from the Wivenhoe floodgates, was inundated during the flood.

She said it was "absolutely disappointing" the Government was trying to pass the buck.

"Particularly when they actually came out and said they wouldn't be appealing the case," Ms Mason said.

She said she believed it was a negotiating tactic to reduce the payout to victims, but was nevertheless frustrated the process was continuing to drag out.

"I think it's just a barrage of excuses not to do the right thing by the people that they have been elected to serve," she said.

"My level of frustration is just continuing (to grow) but more importantly, my faith in the current government is substantially diminished."

Maurice Blackburn, the law firm representing the victims, argued Seqwater should be liable for 50 per cent of damages, Sunwater for 25 per cent and the state itself 25 per cent.

The damages hearing is yet to be finalised, but Ms Mason said the case should never have ended up in court and that the State Government should have "done the right thing" and paid victims compensation much earlier.

The Government has said it will not appeal the decision on the class action but would refrain from further comment until other matters related to the case were determined by the courts.

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http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ21033.shtml

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST

Severe Thunderstorm Warning
for LARGE HAILSTONES, HEAVY RAINFALL and DAMAGING WINDS
For people in Wide Bay and Burnett and parts of Central Highlands and Coalfields, Capricornia and Southeast Coast Forecast Districts.

Issued at 11:01 am Sunday, 25 October 2020.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce large hailstones, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and damaging winds in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Rockhampton, Kingaroy, Biloela, Gatton, Kilcoy, Laidley, Lowood, Mount Morgan and Nanango.

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https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1320201178370637824

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Nothing at Morayfield yet, all forming south of us. Just hot and humid here

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https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1320924049128726529

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Queensland Times --> Homes 'without roofs, ceilings' after massive storm

WILD weather complete with giant hailstones on Saturday afternoon has left homes severely damaged across Springfield, Rosewood, Willowbank, Thagoona and Springfield Lakes.

Calls are still filtering through to Ipswich's State Emergency Services, with reports of damaged roofs and hail-smashed windows.

So far, more than 1500 locals have called on the SES for assistance with crews working tirelessly on repair jobs around the Rosewood and Springfield Lakes areas.

Matthew Mulroney, in the SES control centre, said most of the storm's damage was to roofing in Springfield Lakes.

"Looking purely at numbers, most jobs are in the Springfield Lakes area – because of the density, houses being closer together, more houses were impacted," he said.

"Those cricket ball-sized hail stones go through tiled roofs like paper. Even tin roofs are damaged and end up leaking."

He said hail had bounced up from windowsills, hitting into windows and smashing them.
While responding to calls on Saturday, SES crews became stuck amid hail but nobody was hurt.

"They were trying to respond to jobs arising from the first lot of hail but then got caught themselves," Mr Mulroney said.

He asked anyone who managed to find temporary solutions to damage to call SES to let them know the job no longer needed attending to.

"If anyone has called for help but has been helped out by insurance, for instance with tarps, please call back and let SES know," he said.

"There are still lots of jobs to go and it will take a long time, a number of days to get through them all."

With power still out across 1300 Springfield Lakes homes, Energex personnel are working to restore electricity.

But, according to Energex spokesman Danny Donald, some homes were so significantly damaged, it would be unsafe to attempt to restore power.

"Some of the houses are so badly damaged there's going to be quite a lot that can't be restored back to the network because it's dangerous," he said.

"There are plenty without roofs and ceilings and the last thing we want is to restore power to a home that isn't structurally sound because it can lead to electrocution of those inside and it can lead to house fires."

He said power would likely be restored to all structurally-sound Springfield Lakes homes by Monday night.

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Queensland Times --> Jaw-dropping cost of Ipswich storm damage

THOUSANDS of claims have already been lodged with insurance companies following Saturday afternoon's storms.

So far, 5000 households across Ipswich have lodged claims for storm damage, the majority of which are of the Springfield Lakes and Springfield areas.

An Ipswich City Council spokesman said the total insurance bill for damaged homes across the area came to $100,000,000 so far.

"That will grow as a lot of people are without power, access to phones and computers so they haven't made their insurance claims yet," the spokesman said.

"We're urging people to get in contact with their insurers – the sooner they can get their claims in, the sooner they can get sorted."

The council held a local disaster management meeting on Monday afternoon, chaired by Mayor Teresa Harding.

"There are a lot of concern about food safety because power has been off since Saturday and we're worried about food spoiling at properties – we're telling people, if in doubt, throw it out," the spokesman said.

"We're looking at providing some disposal areas where people will be able to take spoiled food."

The Springfield Lakes YMCA community centre has transformed into a post-storm hub, offering electricity and more to anyone struggling without amenities following the storm.

"If people don't have access to power, the community centre is providing phone charging services and access to computers so people can log their details with insurance companies," the spokesman said.

"That's where we are urging people to go if they need help or advice."

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https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1324222376016519168

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https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1324222109938167808

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BOM Webinar: Wet season outlook 2020–21

In this webinar, the Bureau's experts will present an in-depth analysis of the wet season outlook for tropical Australia for November 2020 to April 2021. We will discuss the monsoon onset, the tropical cyclone and severe weather outlooks.