WATER MISTAKE
RECORD RAIN TO KEEP POURING
FLASH flooding, road closures and widespread power outages have marked the wettest weekend of the year on the Gold Coast.
And forecasters are warning the wild weather will likley continue.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) predicts hail and damaging winds will cause chaos across the Coast today before conditions ease into the week.
Motorists have been urged to be alert for flooding as the wet weather is expected to continue until next weekend.
Widespread thunderstorms and downpours brought more than 100 millimetres to some parts of the Coast in less than 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday, including South Stradbroke Island where 105mm fell.
Flash flooding caught some motorists by surprise, including a driver and her passenger who were trapped inside their vehicle on Hardys Rd at Nerang on yesterday (Sunday) afternoon.
The pair were forced to wade to safety.
Another car was caught out by flash flooding at Bonogin on Friday night.
A number of other roads were closed yesterday afternoon, including Discovery Dr at Helensvale.
The State Emergency Service was called to more than 110 homes to help with flood damage or leaking roofs overnight.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services teamed with the SES, using 14 rural trucks, to create a taskforce to help with the backlog of calls. More than 1500 homes were left without power after a tree branch took out electrical equipment at Currumbin on yesterday morning.
Homes in Tugun, Currumbin, Burleigh Heads and Palm Beach were cut off for several hours.
Coolangatta was soaked by more than 61mm yesterday, the suburb’s wettest day of the year. while the Spit also had its wettest day with 76mm of rain on Saturday. By late yesterday afternoon the Spit’s weekend total was 140mm.
The Seaway had 58.4mm on Saturday and 114mm yesterday. (on Sunday)
While some areas were wetter than others, BOM forecaster Jonty Hall said downpours and storms were felt across the region.
“We’ve got a good scattering of thunderstorms around southeast Queensland in general, including the Gold Coast,” he said. “We’ve seen a couple of rounds of storms develop and move in from the northwest. There’s still some potential for further storms to develop through Monday. There is still instability around for most of next week.”