Australia Weather News

There are concerns for two missing Chinese backpackers in the Gympie region who are understood to have been caught in floodwaters. 

A search is expected to resume in Kilkivan, south of Bundaberg on Thursday morning. 

Police said they held grave fears for them. 

Two men have been charged after allegedly driving into floodwaters and needing rescues while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The two incidents required swift-water rescue teams to pull them and their passengers from the vehicles after they were washed off the road.

Many swollen waterways are starting to recede after intense rainfall, but flood warnings and damaged roads still pose a danger.

A 62-year-old man from Bundaberg North was charged after trying to drive his Holden ute through the flooded intersection, when he became trapped inside.

A swift-water rescue team plucked the man from the water, then took him to Bundaberg Hospital.

He was charged with driving without due care of attention, and driving under the influence of liquor.

His licence was immediately suspended and he is due to face court next month.

He is the second driver in two days to be charged for driving into dangerous waters.

Yesterday, police charged a 57-year-old Cloncurry man after he drove his Toyota Hilux into floodwater with three passengers at Cloncurry in late February.

Police allege he ignored the road-closed signs, and his ute was soon washed off the bitumen.

The driver was able to escape and reach dry land, while his three other passengers, two men and a woman, had to be rescued.

A man and woman in their 20s had to be saved from the roof of the ute by swift-water rescuers.

The driver has been charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle, and adversely affected by an intoxicating substance, and will face court later this month.

Danger remains

Major flood warnings remain in place across Queensland, with flooding estimated to have affected hundreds of homes in Bundaberg.

Authorities believe major flooding on the Burnett River has peaked at about 7.4 metres today.

Premier David Crisafulli said "some people have lost everything", and while the floods had not hit like in 2013, it was "cold comfort" for those impacted.

"In some cases, people have been impacted [by flooding] four times in the last 15 years," he said. 

On the Western Downs, about 350km south-west of Bundaberg, Chinchilla residents in low-lying areas have been told to prepare to leave their homes as major flooding hits Charleys Creek with multiple flood peaks travelling along the catchment. 

Mayor Andrew Smith said Charley's Creek, which runs past the town, is expected to reach 6.8m on Thursday, about 0.5m below 2011 levels that inundated the town.

Cr Smith said some businesses on the Warrego Highway were affected by floodwater, but homes had not yet been directly affected.

Meanwhile, the weather bureau has issued a major flood warning for the outback Queensland town of Winton, following heavy rain on the weekend.

The BOM said moderate flooding has occurred in the Winton area, with major flooding possible from Wednesday afternoon.

Floodwaters have also cut off some Queensland towns, such as Agnes Water in the Gladstone region.

Bundaberg remains alert

Bundaberg police Chief Inspector Grant Marcus, who serves as the district disaster coordinator, said the flood risk was not over and urged residents not to rush back to their homes. 

"We don't want people to return to their houses to try to clean them when there's no [running] water," Chief Inspector Marcus said.

He said residents should be assured supermarkets and petrol stations were being resupplied, and roads between Bundaberg and Brisbane were open. 

Bundaberg Regional Mayor Helen Blackburn said it was still hard to assess the extent of the damage. 

"It's likely that we won't know the full extent for probably a week," she said. 

She said it could take up to two days for the floodwater to drop below 7m, when authorities can reopen bridges over the Burnett River connecting both sides of the city. 

"I'm so pleased that the community came together and they followed the instructions of evacuating if they needed to and keeping each other safe."

Queensland's Wide Bay, Burnett and Gladstone regions received some of the heaviest rain in recent days, with up to 250 millimetres falling in some areas, delivering Bundaberg's highest flood level in more than a decade.

Fourth flood in 15 years

Ben Rawlins, from North Bundaberg, was among those who left their home for safety in Bundaberg.

It was the third time he had been evacuated from his home in the past decade, and this time he was prepared with an air mattress.

"They're expecting about 50 people, and at the moment there's about 100 from what I heard last, so not quite sure exactly how things are going to go yet, but time will only tell," Mr Rawlins said.

Two homes were inundated in Mundubbera and one in Gayndah, and Deputy Mayor Melinda Jones said authorities were preparing to assess the damage.

"We haven't been able to get to all of our road network across the region to see how that's faring because there's still water lying across the region," she said.

Flood warnings

Flooding is impacting much of the state and in the Western Downs, about 350km south-west of Bundaberg, Mayor Andrew Smith said Chinchilla residents in low-lying areas had been told to prepare to leave their homes.

River levels are expected to drop in the coming days and BOM senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said the main areas of concern were still the Wide Bay and Burnett District, northern parts of the Darling Downs, Tiaro, Windorah, Chinchilla, Richmond, Augathella, and Bundaberg.

There were major flood warnings in place for Don and Dee Rivers, the Burnett River, Charleys Creek, Stuart and Boyne Rivers, Barker and Barambah Creeks, Mary River, Dawson River, Baffle Creek, Burrum and Cherwell Rivers, Warrego River, Flinders River, Thomson River, Georgina River and Cooper and Eyre Creek.

There were moderate to minor warnings for parts of the Brisbane River, upstream of Wivenhoe Dam, and the Noosa River.

Roads closed, livestock lost

Hundreds of roads across the state have been cut by floodwater or left damaged, and nine schools have closed.

Authorities estimate that more than 1,000 head of livestock have been lost, there has been significant damage to crops, and more than 1,000 properties have lost power.

On the Fraser Coast, flooding on the Mary River dropped below 5m overnight, where houses are not expected to go underwater.

Further south, the Tiaro Water Treatment Plant has closed, and the towns of Cracow, Theodore and Baralaba have remained mostly isolated.

The township of Agnes Water in the Gladstone region was also cut off by flooded roads.

The weather bureau is forecasting isolated coastal showers through south-east Queensland, but most of the wet weather would be confined to the central part of the state.

Mackay and Mount Isa could expect showers and thunderstorms, with some heavier falls along the north tropical coast and the Peninsula District and Gulf Coast.

A monsoon trough in north Queensland was expected to bring steady rainfall to the Gulf and northern regions later in the week.

Otherwise, much of Queensland could expect dry and sunny weather.