Australia Weather News

Maleny man Jonathan Gutke, and his son, in backyard with empty water tanks. - ABC

Residents on Queensland's Sunshine Coast are praying for rain as many water tanks run dry.

Thousands of people in the area's hinterlands are not connected to the water grid and a lack of decent rain means many have run out.

Jonathan Gutke lives in Maleny with his young family and said the water stopped flowing at his place last week.

"In normal times, you can get a water delivery in 24 to 48 hours, so I didn't freak out when I was getting down low. I didn't think it was going to be that hard," he said.

"When we did run out, it was going to be 3-4 weeks for a delivery. Then you're in a bit of a pickle."

Gary Chapman from Eumundi said he had not had decent rain since March, as he stared out over his half empty pool.

"Our delivery — the earliest I could get, and I rang up and booked that last week — was October 18, so that's about five weeks," he said.

"That seems to be pretty much standard across the board.

"It's quite serious, and if you do run out of water, I'm not sure what you do then."

The Sunshine Coast Council has introduced emergency measures to try and ease the pressure on residents.

Mayor Mark Jamieson said more facilities have been opened to allow locals to refill water containers.

"Council made the decision to assist those people who are, in many cases, in pretty dire straits by encouraging access to water points across the range," he said.

"We've also opened up council public toilet and shower facilities for people to use where the situation is desperate.

"These are our citizens, we need to look after them."

ABC