The town of Laidley has been inundated by floodwaters after an intense storm hit the region overnight.
It comes after the Lockyer Valley received more than 300 millimetres of rain since the weekend.
Lockyer Valley Mayor Tanya Milligan said that the main street of Laidley has now been flooded affecting several local businesses.
“As you know over the weekend we had over 230 odd mls and last night more than 100 millimetres and that’s already on a really saturated catchment.
“Needless to say when the creek is up, it then ventures down towards Laidley’s CBD and this happened this morning and impacted seven or eight businesses.
Mayor Tanya Milligan said that they are expecting water across the Warrego Highway at Glenore Grove and that could happen around Midday.
“The BOM is still talking about another, maybe 50 maybe 100 mls, today or tomorrow – so we just need to remain aware, keep an eye on the disaster dashboard because things change sometimes for the best or for the worst,” she said.
Meanwhile, Emergency crews were called to three swift water rescues at Lowood in the Lockyer Valley, Grandchester at Ipswich and Flagstone at Logan overnight.
QFES Acting Deputy Commissioner Kevin Walsh said he is not surprised by these types of events.
“Most people have heeded the warnings over many years if it’s ‘flooded forget it’, so there are certainly a number of people who intentionally drive through the water but what we are seeing in this particular event is people being caught out,” he said.
“Everything is so saturated that people are just getting caught unawares due to the really rapid rise in the flood waters.
“It is not so much about people doing the wrong thing, it is just getting caught in the wrong situation and the wrong time,” the Acting Deputy Commissioner said.
The Lockyer Valley currently has close to 80 road closures for areas such as Laidley, Gatton, Forest Hill, Ingoldsby and Mount Sylvia.
It comes as a major flood warning remains in place for Laidley and Warrell Creeks, a moderate flood warning for the Bremer River and a minor flood warning for Lockyer Creek.
For the latest on road closures and weather updates for Lockyer Valley, Ipswich, Somerset and Scenic Rim click the following links:
https://disaster.lvrc.qld.gov.au/
https://disaster.ipswich.qld.gov.au/
https://disaster.somerset.qld.gov.au/
