Fresh flooding in Queensland

Hundreds of people have been evacuated and rescued from rising floodwaters, as severe thunderstorms pummelling southeast Queensland are forecast to linger longer than expected. Amassive low-pressure trough is dumping intense rainfall – up to 160mmin six hours – on the Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Darling Downs, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast, Wide Bay-Burnett, Bundaberg and Gladstone regions. The rain is not as constant and intense as the downpours that caused major floods in February. A powerful easterly swell and strong onshore winds have whipped up 4mwaves. The unseasonal deluge is Queensland’s sixth deadly flood since December, which scientists have put down to a second La Nina weather pattern in two years.