Australia’s east coast has been hit by severe storms, causing flash floods, submerging cars, and prompting drivers to seek assistance.
Brisbane was pounded by a fierce thunderstorm on Sunday, resulting in flooded roads and waterlogged vehicles.
More than 50mm of rain fell in just 30 minutes in Brisbane City, with surrounding suburbs experiencing even heavier downpours—70mm at Rosalie and 77mm at Holland Park West in one hour.
Further south, Upper Springbrook on the Gold Coast received over 260mm of rain in the past 24 hours.
“Even though the rainfall totals may not have been extremely high, it came down very rapidly,” explained Daniel Hayes from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Video footage depicted Brisbane’s Roma Street transformed into a river and southern suburbs like East Brisbane and Stones Corner inundated with floodwaters.
The Queensland SES fielded 91 storm-related calls in the last day, primarily from the Moreton Bay, Brisbane, and Logan regions.
The Queensland Fire Department conducted four water rescues, including three vehicles trapped in floodwaters and one individual stuck in a kayak.
Multiple incidents of people stranded or affected by floodwater were reported by the police.
Brett Dutschke from Weatherzone revealed that Highvale in Moreton Bay received 128mm of rain—the highest December rainfall in over six decades.
In Sydney, over 25mm of rain fell in an hour, causing chaos for train services on Sunday.
Wealthy neighborhoods in the city’s east experienced flash flooding, with Bondi restaurants and Double Bay streets submerged in water.
The NSW SES responded to nearly 200 calls for assistance, including rescuing a family trapped in a car hit by a falling tree during a thunderstorm.
Victoria and Tasmania also experienced heavy rainfall, with Cape Nelson seeing 57mm—the most in December in 25 years—and Canberra receiving 40mm, the highest in December in a decade, according to Weatherzone.
The bureau stated that the worst of the wet weather has passed for Sydney and Brisbane, with intense storm activity shifting to northern South Australia and the Northern Territory on Monday.
Hayes added, “Storms are currently active in those regions along the trough line and will persist throughout the day. The activity will then move to western NSW, western Queensland, and western Victoria later today and tomorrow.”
A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for northern Queensland around Georgetown, with 50mm of rain falling in just 30 minutes at Brennans Knob on Monday morning.
