Hundreds flee as floodwaters rise

A heavy band of rain has swept over a large area stretching from northern NSW right up towards Townsville, with more rain forecast today.More than 100mm of rain has fallen in the past 24 hours in some locations, with Mount Glorious Moreton Bay Region recording more than 180mm.Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there have been 320 SES calls made, with most of them in the Greater Brisbane areas.“I urge Queenslanders to listen to warnings and follow the advice,” she said.In Queensland, November rainfall records are likely to have been broken as thunderstorms rolled over the state overnight.Now several communities across the state are under flood warnings as dams overflow and rivers rise.The town of Inglewood west of Brisbane is one of the hardest hit areas, with its river set to rise to its highest level in 45 years. Around 800 residents have been evacuated from the town and it’s understood an emergency rescue operation is underway this morning to save a child and two adults trapped in a car.The Bureau of Meteorology said the Macintyre Brook at Inglewood Bridge is currently at 11.15 metres and around a peak, with major flooding expected.“This is above the 10.50m peak recorded in April 1988 but below the 11.73m record flood in February 1976,” it said. “Further small rises are possible in the next hour or so but the peak is likely to remain around the current level of 11.15 metres. The river level is likely to start easing during Wednesday morning.”Overnight, police made an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act for the town.This morning police said the emergency declaration remains in place, with around 800 residents safely evacuated to a local cemetery.“While the river has peaked, the declaration will remain until police can assess the scene prior to residents returning to their homes,” police said.Emergency services are going door-to-door, asking people in low-lying areas to leave.Goondiwindi Regional Council Mayor Lawrence Springborg said a fair amount of water is flowing into the nearby Coolmunda Dam, which was already overflowing.“We’re expecting at least the volume of that dam to pass through it in the next 24 hours,” he told ABC.“We need to doorknock now because it’s very difficult to respond to at night, and we need to take that precaution now.”The area police have designated is bounded by a driveway to the west of Inglewood Hospital (western boundary), the MacIntyre River (northern boundary) and Inglewood-Millmerran Road to Inglewood Cemetery across to Inglewood-Texas Road.Significant flooding is expected to occur across the township in coming hours.Residents are asked to take advice from emergency services on the ground and relocate to an assembly point at Inglewood Cemetery.Bundaberg is also on alert this morning with residents cut off from the rest of the state, with the Burnett River rising up to swallow roads and crossings.Areas across the southeast of the state have also been hit hard, recording more than 100mm of rain in the past 24 hours.For more information, visit Goondiwindi Regional Council’s Disaster Dashboard.The emergency declaration took effect at 9pm, November 30. Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au