Rain may linger a little longer but BOM says the worst of it is heading out to sea
Flooding fears remain around parts of southeast Queensland and northeast NSW despite heavy rain beginning to ease.
Kiwis have been warned to expect up to a months worth of rain in the next 36 hours (AAP Image/David Moir)
A trough that has pounded those areas in recent days is predicted to move offshore on Wednesday night, but emergency services remain poised for rescues after record-breaking downpours.
Flood peaks have either occurred, or are predicted to in the next day or two, while another burst of rain is expected to hit on Friday after isolated showers on Thursday.
Southeast Queensland’s coastal catchments have been issued with a flood watch warning, as have parts of the NSW Northern Rivers.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Miriam Bradbury said while the trough had shifted offshore on Wednesday night, there was no room for complacency on flooding.
“We’ve seen a number of days of heavy rainfall at this point, and water is still moving through our river catchments,” she said.
“We have a number of flood watches still current … (the rain) may have cause road and access issues as water moves over the roads, and we may even see some localised inundation of low-lying areas close to the river systems.”
Parts of the Queensland coast, including Yeppoon, copped a battering into Wednesday morning with more than 100mm in less than six hours.
Samuel Hill, northeast of Rockhampton, received 177mm, breaking all previous daily records for August.
Rockhampton also recorded its highest ever August 24-hour total with 85mm of rain falling overnight.
Another 60mm of rain is forecast for Brisbane on Wednesday and up to 100mm for areas bordering the city.
Flooding has already closed some roads across Brisbane’s north.
Possible severe thunderstorms with heavy rain that may cause flash flooding are also forecast for K’gari, Stradbroke and Moreton islands.
Further south, about 100mm was expected between the NSW Tweed Coast and Coffs Harbour in a 24-hour period, with isolated higher falls possible.
NSW State Emergency Service spokesman Andrew Edmunds said an incident management team had been set up in Lismore to co-ordinate flood rescues.
Crews had already responded to 163 incidents and three flood rescues across the state within 48 hours.
Flood watches are in place for parts of the Northern Rivers and NSW mid-north coast with localised river level rises and flash flooding likely along the Tweed, Brunswick, Richmond and Bellinger rivers.
Minor flood warnings are in place for the Wilsons and Orara rivers.
Many of the areas are still recovering from record flooding that hit the region in early 2022.