DRENCHING FOR CITY
HEAVY rain that lashed parts of the region yesterday has topped up the Ross River Dam by thousands of megalitres — the equivalent of 43 days’ town water supply.
From Tuesday to 5pm yesterday, the dam’s capacity increased by 3.5 per cent — or 6581 megalitres thanks to high rainfall totals out west.
Flash flooding caused road closures yesterday morning in many suburbs across the city, with Aitkenvale the hardest hit, copping 65mm in six hours.
Upper Major Creek recorded 101mm of rain in the same time period.
Gulliver resident Frederick Buck and neighbour Lee Hardy feared drains in Strange St, which flooded last year, could not cope.
“The streets flood within an hour of rain. The water just doesn’t seem to get away,” Mr Buck said.
“In the past it took days for the streets to fill now it takes an hour.”
Mr Hardy, who has lived in the street for a decade, said drainage had been an issue for years but was getting worse.
“We usually expect it (to flood) once or twice a year when we get that 100mm of rain but now it’s happening when we get that 20mm or 30mm,” he said.
Some Townsville residents were concerned there was very little warning by the weather bureau.
The rain, caused by a tropical low which is affecting large parts of North Queensland was, however, not defined as severe by the Bureau of Meteorology.
Meteorologist Peter Markworth said Townsville needed to record 76mm of rain or more in an hour to be deemed severe.
Mr Markworth cent had 61mm said of
Vinrain,
Townsville Airport 58mm and Mount Stuart 53mm. Yesterday’s rain followed record breaking rain in the Burdekin the day before, when 529mm of rain drenched Rita Island while Ayr had 421mm and Groper Creek 418mm.
The huge totals broke previous high daily total records in the Burdekin, where Home Hill recorded 395mm in one day back in March 1988, Ayr
DPI station recorded 254mm also in March 1988 and Burdekin Shire Council weather station recorded 478mm in February 1947.
Burdekin MP Dale Last said the community was “cleaning up and getting things back to normal”.
Some schools in the Burdekin were forced to close for a second day, waiting for floodwaters to recede.
Mr Last feared for Townsville if it received any more heavy rainfall soon.
“We’re not getting the rain in the Burdekin as in Townsville,” he said.
He said better forecasting could help better prepare for adverse weather conditions.
“The better forecasting and predictions, the more resilient a community becomes,” he said.
“If people were left in the dark … that’s when people are caught up.”
Mr Markworth said there was a chance of heavier rainfall again today – with 25mm predicted today for the city, with isolated storms producing higher totals.