Numerous rivers have flooded across Queensland after record rainfall lashed regions of an already sodden state, cutting off roads and communities.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a major flood warning for the Haughton River on Queensland’s north tropical coast on Thursday morning.
Other warnings were current for the Paroo, Bulloo, Cooper, Barcoo, Thomson, Western, Diamantina and Georgina rivers.
Several rivers across western and central Queensland were also experiencing minor to moderate flooding.
Sandbagging sites began reopening around Brisbane as the south-east braced again after recovering from ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.
The small town of Giru, south of Townsville, experienced significant rainfall in the 24 hours to Thursday, causing major flooding. Further rain was forecast across the area for the coming days that could cause the Haughton River to rise higher.
The Haughton was 2.63 metres above the major flood level and rising. It could reach about 2.80 metres on Thursday morning, the bureau said.
It was expected to remain above the major flood level of 2.50 metres with further rises possible.
“Since 9am yesterday morning, there has been a continued focus of rain along the north tropical coast, with up to 120mm for a few locations,” meteorologist Helen Reid said on Thursday.
“This adds to the widespread 200mm to 400mm across western and south-western Queensland over the last few days, with widespread 100mm to 200mm to come.”
The weather bureau was forecasting similar totals across central and southern parts of the state on Thursday, with a severe weather warning issued for the Maranoa and Warrego districts.
In far western Queensland, the Quilpie community is among a number of regions threatened by flood waters.
“We’re working closely with the state (government) to look at if there’s a need to fly in food supplies,” Quilpie Council CEO Justin Hancock said.
“It’s too early to tell how long we’re going to be cut off for to make the call.
“Once the current threats of flooding reduces we have to turn our attention to the recovery efforts, particularly those in our agricultural sector that’ll be significantly impacted.”
The slow-moving low-pressure system affecting Queensland was expected to move south-east towards the weekend and bring widespread rain to the region and parts of northern and eastern NSW.
The heaviest totals were forecast for Friday and Saturday, which could cause flash and riverine flooding across already wet catchments.
Jundah, in the Barcoo, and other far-flung towns like it, became islands marooned in vast inland lakes as up to a year’s worth of rain was dumped across swathes of the outback.
Video from Jundah on Wednesday showed a dad doing the school run to town from an outback station in a tinnie, with the boat navigating muddy waters and submerged small trees and shrubs.
It was just one among a deluge of aerial footage and photos showing the outback transformed.
By the following day, the picture from some of those towns and homes became more alarming, with buildings and settlements going under as well.
Queensland police made an emergency declaration for Adavale – about 195km to the south-east – on Thursday morning, after emergency services received multiple calls that the town was being inundated by flood water.
Authorities declared the Adavale town hall a place of refuge, amid reports that the region was experiencing potentially its worst flooding in decades.
