Bruce Highway flooding

Without stating the obvious, the rainfall we have just encountered was a big event! For those that were impacted by the closure of the Bruce Highway due to flooding between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, we have undertaken an assessment of some of the local rainfall data. Flood modelling undertaken for Beerburrum Creek indicates the critical storm duration is the 9 hour event. Based on records for the Caboolture region and an assessment of storm durations up to 24 hours, the 6 hour and 9 hour storm periods on the 26th of February both exceeded the 1 % Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) event. A summary of our assessment is provided below.

A media release issued by Stormwater Queensland indicates the 72 hr rainfall totals varied from a 0.2 % AEP to possibly a 0.1 % AEP event in some locations. It is therefore not surprising that we saw so many roads (and properties) impacted.

Check out this timelapse of the Bruce Highway floods: