Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art

Caught in the storm

A storm swept through southeast Queensland yesterday and I was caught in it driving home from work. I have to confess that it was the scariest drive I have ever experienced and visibility due to the torrential rain on the freeway was almost nil. With the windscreen wipers on at full pelt and trying desperately to see the white lane lines on the road, I nervously followed the other cars along the deluged highway. Some motorists had opted to pull over to wait out the storm, others had broken down and their hazard lights blinked brigthly in the rain induced haze. The final part of my drive home from work is along a single country road and this was when the going got tougher. Flooding had well and truly started and water was gushing from the overworked drains onto the road. Cars were crawling at this stage as we drove through several waterlogged areas and I remember at one point not being able to see a thing as the spray of the water from a car coming in the opposite direction totally engulfed my car. I finally did make it home safely and breathed a sigh of relief when I finally pulled into my driveway but it didn’t end there.

By this stage, the thunder and lightning was angrily rumbling and flashing and our pool was overflowing into our garden and pergola area so I quickly set the pool filter to drain some of the water out and began sweeping the water which was gathering in our pergola area. I put buckets out to catch the drops from our leaking pergola roof, placed towels at our doorways as the rain was lashing so heavily, it was forming wet puddles at our entranceways. Phew! The storm finally eased but my husband was still stuck in traffic on his way home and told me that it was horrific on the roads and that he had to find an alternative route home due to severe flooding. He reported that some people were stranded and it would take them hours to get home then we heard some very sad news on the radio …

A man has drowned in a drain south of Brisbane after a storm swept through southeast Queensland, flooding streets and turning drains into torrents. The 18-year-old was in the drain on Mark Street, Capalaba, when he was swept away shortly before 5pm (AEST), police said. A second teenager also feared drowned was found alive a short time later.

Severe storms lashed Brisbane’s city centre, Boonah, Beenleigh, Logan City, Gatton, Toowoomba, the ranges between Biggenden and Tiaro and the area northeast of Kingaroy. The Bureau of Meteorology had earlier issued a severe thunderstorm warning for much of the region, including the southern coast, Wide Bay and Burnett regions, the eastern Darling Downs and Granite Belt area.

The storms caused traffic chaos for the peak hour run home, with flooding trapping motorists at Carindale, in Brisbane’s outh. More than 5,000 homes without power at the height of the storm were mainly in Logan and Beenleigh, south of Brisbane. A spokesman for Energex said crews were working to restore power, but could not access one outage at Shailer Park, as roads were cut by floodwaters.

Earlier on Wednesday, an Emergency Management Queensland helicopter rescued a family from their property, isolated by floodwaters, at Teviot Brook, near Boonah, southwest of Brisbane.The couple, who had a 19-month-old baby, had no supplies or money and were stranded.

State Emergency Service volunteers rescued a 22-year-old man clinging to a log in the flooded Boyne River, near Wondai in the South Burnett. His car was swept from a bridge in the early hours of the morning, and he clung to the log until a passer-by raised the alarm around 8am (AEST).

Near Maryborough in southern Queensland, seven children were forced to spend the night at school when floodwaters cut roads to their homes. Brooweena State School principal Tanya Jensen said the waters rose quickly, stranding children and staff from outlying areas. The decision was supported by mums and dads and might have given them the opportunity to have a night off,” she said.

The rain has pushed the combined dam levels in drought-hit southeast Queensland over 30 per cent. SEQWater, which owns and runs the Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams, said the total of the three was now 31.53 per cent, up by 2.33 per cent overnight, or an extra 2.5 months supply.

Photo courtesty of the Courier Mail