Queenslanders are being warned to brace for more extreme weather with a giant hail bomb, intense rainfall and destructive winds set to hit flood-affected areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned severe storms are likely across south-east Queensland on Thursday, issuing a warning covering coastal areas from Bundaberg to the Gold Coast.
‘Heavy to intense rainfall, large to giant hail and damaging to destructive wind gusts are possible. Flash flooding and renewed river rises possible with any heavy rain,’ it posted on Twitter.
Brisbane resident Jane Knox is seen cleaning up her flood damaged property in the suburb of Auchenflower
The Bureau of Meteorology warned severe storms are likely across south east Queensland on Thursday with severe thunderstorms likely for regions marked in red
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urged residents to listen to the weather bureau’s current warnings as major rivers continue to rise.
‘There is some concern about these very dangerous thunderstorms,’ she said at a press conference on Wednesday.
‘We’re not out of the woods.’
A major flood warning has been issued for Mary River and lower Logan River, while moderate flood warnings have been issued for Noosa River and the Brisbane River on Wednesday.
Flood affected residents in Logan, south of Brisbane have started a mammoth cleanup on Wednesday (pictured)
The Bureau warned thunderstorm activity may cause river levels to rise and continued flooding in some parts of the catchment.
The latest forecast offers no sign of relief for Queenslanders who are now grappling with the threat of looters taking advantage of flood victims.
Police confirmed on Tuesday morning that homes in the south-west Brisbane suburbs of Bundamba, Goodna and Blackstone had been hit by thieves.
A 21-year-old man has been arrested over one incident.
Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan, who appeared visibly angry at a press conference, slammed the burglars as ‘grubs’.
Queenslanders are being warned to brace for more extreme weather with a giant hail bomb, intense rainfall and destructive winds set to hit flood affected areas (pictured, residents look for their flooded home in Logan, south of Brisbane on Tuesday)
Heartless looters preying on flood victims are slammed as ‘grubs’ as 21-year-old is arrested and top cop delivers a scathing message
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday morning that evacuated properties in the south-west Brisbane suburbs of Bundamba, Goodna and Blackstone were targeted (pictured, a man delivers a canoe to stranded residents in Fairfield in Brisbane)
‘Let me put this as politely as I can to those people who are engaged in this behaviour. What you are doing is not just illegal, but you are also grubs,’ he said.
‘You are preying on the most vulnerable Queenslanders at a time of their most vulnerable.’
The Minister then disowned the thieves as fellow Queenslanders.
‘You’re not even Queenslanders when you engage in this behaviour because Queenslanders help their mates and Queenslanders support their mates, and if you’re thieving from them, you are not a Queenslander, you are a grub,’ he added.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was also left astonished by the thieving in flood-affected areas and addressed the low act on Tuesday.
‘I cannot believe that people would go to such depths,’ she said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) urged residents to listen to the weather bureau’s current warnings as major rivers continue to rise
The Premier said the looting was ‘unbelievable’ and demanded that the burglars stop their actions immediately (pictured, a man makes his way through floodwaters in Brisbane on Tuesday)
‘These are people that are going through the hardships of their lives. The last thing they need to worry about is someone climbing into their house or going through their front door, going through their possessions.’
One man has been arrested for ransacking properties, while investigations are ongoing for two other incidences of theft.
Eight people have died and hundreds have been rescued from floodwaters which have so far damaged at least 19,000 homes and won’t fully recede for days in Queensland and New South Wales.
Major flooding is under way on the Brisbane, Logan, Bremer and Mary rivers, and Warrill Creek, after the torrential downpours of the past week.
More than 1.77m of rain fell on Mount Glorious, 1.55m at Pomona on the Sunshine Coast and 1.23m at Upper Springbrook on the Gold Coast in seven days.
Brisbane copped 795mm – the city’s wettest week since records began in 1840 – with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying much of the wider region is devastated.
Brisbane copped 795mm – the city’s wettest week since records began in 1840 – with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying much of the wider region is devastated (pictured, Brisbane’s flooded CBD on Monday)
