Intense, heavy rainfall saw many of Kingaroy’s streets flooded in the last couple of days of 2024.
December 2024 continues to be wet, with more flooding recorded on Monday, 30 December thanks to a heavy downpour in the late afternoon and evening.
RECORD RAINFALL
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Kingaroy rain gauge recorded a massive 149mm of rainfall in the 24 hours from 3.30pm Monday 30 December to 3.30pm on Tuesday, 31 December.
An impressive 82mm of this fell within one hour in Kingaroy to 4.36pm on Monday, 30 December.
In the same 24-hour period of time, the rain gauge at Embrey’s Bridge recorded 66mm, Brooklands 56mm, West Barambah 56mm, Boondooma 68mm and Proston 83mm.
The South Burnett Regional Council’s Disaster Management Team moved to a ‘stand up’ status and reminds residents that flash flooding and road damage can occur quickly and without warning. Remember, always drive to the conditions, and if it’s flooded, forget it.
The council reported that the rain event of Monday had been categorised as crossing the ‘intense rainfall thresholds’ and was a greater than 1-in-100-year storm event. Further rain is forecast potentially for the next three days.
Emergency services and Council crews worked through the evening and were out again early this morning undertaking restoration activities.
QPS advises residents not to drive or walk-through floodwater and avoid unnecessary travel.
If you must travel, please drive to the prevailing road conditions, adhere to signage, and do not drive through floodwater.
Residents should not expect to see warnings signs for every crossing given the widespread impact of rainfall.
FLOODED MAIN STREET, BACKYARDS
Kingaroy resident Madeleine Dales lives near the Kingaroy Hospital and said they got “swamped in” as the water flowed swiftly down the hill.
Fellow resident Emilie Wiechmann was in town when the flash flooding occurred.
She said Kingaroy Street near the IGA was “deep in some parts that you couldn’t see, and high flowing making it dangerous for cars to go through”.
Kingaroy’s industrial estate on First Avenue often has water over the road in high rainfall, but Emilie said not in the same way like it was on Monday.
“I’ve never seen flooding like this in this spot, it was still very shallow, but just spread out across a wide area and not safe for small cars,” she said.
SWIFTWATER RESCUES
Queensland Fire Department was called to three swift water rescues on Monday night, 30 December.
A QFD spokeswoman stated that seven crews were on scene throughout the course of the job at a rescue at Taabinga on Geritz Road, near the Kingaroy TAFE.
The first crews arrived at 6.04pm to find a vehicle in the floodwaters with someone stuck inside.
Two of the specialty swiftwater firefighters waded out the 50 metres to the flooded vehicle using a float rope.
They were able to get access to the man and walk him out to higher, safer ground by 8.10pm.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman stated that a QAS crew was on scene at the Taabinga rescue just before 6pm.
The man, who was initially stuck in the vehicle, had no reported injuries but was transported to Kingaroy Hospital in a stable condition.
Meanwhile, Queensland Fire Department crews were tasked to a rescue at Booie where a house at Malar Crescent was flooded.
The QFD spokeswoman stated that the water was ankle deep when the residents called, stuck on their table.
However, by the time the QFD crew arrived the water had started receding and a rescue was not required.
Later that night, another swift water rescue took place at Wattlecamp.
The QFD spokeswoman stated that three crews were tasked to Memerambi Barkers Creek Rd at 8.56pm where someone’s vehicle had broken down after driving through floodwaters.
There was still someone in the vehicle, and the swiftwater rescue trained firefighters waded out to the person and were able to walk them out of the floodwaters safely.
While attending the Wattlecamp rescue, crew members also checked on another vehicle trapped in the same area. However, the QFD spokeswoman reported, they were in a self-sustaining caravan and were ok to wait for the waters to go down.
SANDBAGS AVAILABLE
Sandbags can be used to reduce the impact of flooding on your home or business.
Council reported that whilst sandbags will not stop flood water entirely, they can reduce the amount of water entering your premises.
Sandbags are available to be filled with sand, to residents and businesses, in the South Burnett Regional Council area.
Sandbags and sand can be collected at the Kingaroy SES Depot located at 5 Glendon Street Kingaroy and can be contacted on 132 500.
CLOSURES
South Burnett Regional Council has advised the community that in the interest of public safety, Kingaroy Memorial Park has been closed until further notice, due to damage caused during the weather event that occurred on Monday 30 December 2024.
STAY UP-TO-DATE
The South Burnett LDMG will continue to maintain the disaster dashboard as information is provided and will communicate further updates on major travel routes if conditions change.
Stay informed with updates regarding Disaster Management (emergency news, road closures, weather warnings) by visiting Council’s disaster dashboard – dashboard.southburnett.qld.gov.au/
