A tropical low and heavy rainfall is impacting the North Tropical Queensland Coast.
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00:00Hello, Sarah from the Bureau with an update on the tropical low and heavy rainfall that's been
00:04impacting the North Tropical Queensland coast. So we're taking a look at the radar here,
00:10there have been widespread showers and areas of rain that have been continuously pushing on to
00:16that east coast of Queensland and in the 24-hour rainfall totals until 9am were as high as 300
00:22millimetres near the Innisfail area, with widespread totals of 150 to 200 millimetres
00:29elsewhere around the region. Now we do have a severe weather warning in place for that
00:35heavy rainfall with six hourly rainfall totals between 120 to 180 millimetres,
00:41extending from Cairns down towards Mission Beach. But we are expecting the rainfall to
00:47ease later this afternoon and this warning is likely to be cancelled. However, there are
00:54possible severe thunderstorms for the remainder of today and into this evening, extending all
00:59the way from Cookdown down to Mackay and inland towards Atherton. And these thunderstorms may
01:06bring heavy rainfall that could lead to flooding as well. So with all this wet weather, there are
01:11a number of flood watches that have been issued across the region and later this afternoon the
01:16flood watches may be extended down towards the Townsville area. More specifically, flood warning
01:22is current for the Mulgrave and the Tully rivers with minor to moderate flooding. So with all this
01:30heavy rainfall, community impacts could include hazardous driving conditions due to flooded roads,
01:36water over roads and detours, stress on powers and infrastructure and also damage to crops,
01:44garden and property. So let's just take a look at how this is playing out. So here's that low
01:50pressure system and just noticing that it's slowly moving away from the mainland and that's why we're
01:56expecting the rainfall to ease from this afternoon. However, if we start moving towards the weekend,
02:03it suddenly starts changing direction and moving back towards the coast with the potential for
02:09heavy rainfall to redevelop all the way from Cairns down towards Mackay and during Sunday
02:16there's even the chance for locally intense rainfall that may lead to life-threatening flash flooding.
02:23Now, the low pressure system both in the Gulf of Carpentaria and in the Coral Sea off the
02:28Queensland coast have the potential to develop into a tropical cyclone with a moderate chance
02:34from Sunday. But regardless of whether or not these systems do develop into tropical cyclones,
02:40this low pressure system here has the potential to dump an enormous amount of rainfall.
02:46So now is the time for communities to prepare and you can stay up to date with the latest warnings
02:53via the Bureau website, the app and social media and as always listen to the advice
02:58from your local emergency services. Bye for now.