May-day: Severe weather to batter Gold Coast

Heavy rain totalling 200-400mm, damaging winds up to 90 km/h, dangerous surf with significant beach erosion, and tides 0.5m above normal are set to batter the Gold Coast and south-east Queensland on the first day of May 2015.

Ex-TC Marcia: When will she impact the Gold Coast?

8:50pm Update: Ex-tropical cyclone Marcia continues to move off the southeast Queensland coast with the heaviest rain bypassing most of the Gold Coast. However the possibility for damaging winds and dangerous surf conditions remain.

Un-easy calm as weakening Marcia heads for Gold Coast

Although rain has eased across the Gold Coast this evening, conditions are expected to deteriorate again during Saturday as a weakening Marcia moves into southeast Queensland.

Cyclone Marcia Track map and Forecast Wind
as at 7pm, Friday 20 February 2015

The hatches are battened, Marcia gets stronger

MTSAT Colourized Infrared

Satellite Image

8:33pm Thu 19 Feb 2015

The Gold Coast spent today waiting in long queues for sandbags and battening down for 2015's most severe weather event, whilst Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia is expected to make landfall on the central Queensland coast as a very destructive Category 5 cyclone.

Cyclone Marcia! Marcia! Marcia! is born

7:00pm 19/02 UPDATE: Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia now a Category 4 storm and expected to make landfall as a very destructive Category 5 cyclone. See the Cyclone Warning for more info.

Severe weather warning issued, local disaster group on alert

MTSAT Colourized Infrared
Satellite Image
8:33pm Tue 17 Feb 2015

The Gold Coast is now facing a quadruple threat on Thursday and Friday from damaging winds, heavy rainfall, abnormally high tides and dangerous surf as the low pressure system in the Coral Sea deepens and moves closer to Queensland.

60th anniversary of 'the Great Gold Coast Cyclone'

DID YOU KNOW: 10pm tonight (February 20th) marks the 60th anniversay of 'the Great Gold Coast Cyclone' which crossed the coast at Coolangatta?

Facebook Competition Results

And the winners of our Solar Pocket Radio & Key-Ring Torch Competition are:

Are you prepared for Severe Weather? Tell us on Facebook and you could WIN!

Are you prepared for Severe Weather? Tell us via our Facebook competition picture and you could WIN one of either:

- 5 x Solar Powered AM/FM Pocket Radios
- 5 x Solar Powered Key Ring Torches

Another wet Australia Day for 2013

Up to 125-200mm of rain could dampen South-East Queensland's 2013 Australia Day weekend according to current long-term rainfall forecasts issued by the Bureau of Meteorology on Wednesday 23 January 2013.

The end is nigh(t)

Tonight at 9:11pm will be the end of the world ... talking about the end of the world (at least for a little bit)!

An artist's rendition of tonight's event

400m+ rain possible over next 8 days

South East Queensland is going to get another drenching based on current computer generated rainfall forecast maps for the next 8 days.

Along with areas of northern NSW as well, it appears up to (and over) 400mm of rain is possible over the period from tomorrow Sunday 21 January 2012 to next Saturday 28 January 2012.

Whilst these are only long-term forecasts that only indicate an approximate area, the chances of flooding during these rains is possible. Take the time to prepare now just in case.

The Gold Coast City Council's disaster management website (goldcoastcity.com.au/disaster) has excellent resources and information on how to be prepared for a disaster event. As a community, our strongest buffer in any disaster is: be informed, be prepared.

Some links that provide local information about preparing for floods including:

• Checking if you're in a flood prone area (flood heights and maps)
• Preparing for a flood
• Frequently asked questions about floods

The following basic tips regarding getting prepared are from Council's free Disaster Education Guide, which is available for download from their website, or printed copies are available from Council offices and libraries.

Three easy steps to plan for emergencies

1. Before a flood:

• Identify which roads and causeways are likely to flood and plan an alternative access route if necessary. These roads can usually be identified by looking for flood level markers.
• If your property is likely to be isolated in a flood, stock up on extra non- perishable supplies including bottled water and ensure your emergency kit is up to date.
• Identify when and where you would evacuate to if required.
• Ensure your insurance covers flood damage.

2. During a flood warning:

• Listen to your local radio station for flood updates.
• If it’s flooded, forget it. Don’t walk, ride or drive through flood waters.
• Turn off water, power and gas supplies.
• Raise furniture, valuables and electrical items onto higher floors, beds, tables or roof spaces.
• Sand bag entry points to your property. Put a sand bag inside toilets and on top of indoor drains to prevent sewage back flow.
• Move vehicles, outdoor equipment, garbage, and chemicals to higher ground.
• Ensure the safety of pets, children, elderly and those with special needs.

3. After a flood:

• Don’t wade or drive into remnant flood waters.
• Don’t re-enter your home until it is declared safe.
• Don’t use gas or electrical appliances until they are checked for safety.
• Don’t eat food that has been in flood water.
• Boil tap water until water supplies are declared safe.
• Contact your local SES on 132 500 for assistance

Phone 000 immediately if someone is caught in flood waters

More information?

For help and further information visit Council’s

disaster management website:

www.goldcoastcity.com.au/disaster t

hen follow the links to Floods.

Batten down the hatches

Damaging 90km/h wind gusts and flash flooding is possible for people in the Southeast Coast district after the Bureau updated it's Severe Weather Warning at 11:05 am on Sunday 10 October 2010:

The combination of an intensifying high over the Tasman Sea and a deep trough off the southern Queensland coast is expected to produce wind gusts in excess of 90 km/hr, mainly along the exposed coast and over the islands.

As the trough moves closer to the coast expect increasing rain during the day with locally heavy falls developing from the south, particularly late in the day or overnight, with the possibility of flash flooding.

The State Emergency Service advises that people in the affected area should:
· seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees
· secure loose outdoor items
· beware of fallen trees and powerlines
· avoid driving, walking or riding through flood waters
(Source: BOM)

Additionally, Emergency Management Queensland issued a Severe Weather Advice today:

Emergency Management Queensland is urging all residents along the southern Queensland coast to prepare for heavy rain and strong wind gusts later today and tonight.

The Bureau of Meteorology has advised that strong wind gusts will occur in coastal areas with increasing rain throughout the day and heavy falls developing in the afternoon or tonight, with the possibility of flash flooding.

State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers are on standby but residents are being reminded to prepare their homes to best avoid damage to property.

People are being urged to listen to local radio, secure loose items, clear their gutters and to seek shelter indoors and not under trees.

A flood warning remains current for Sunshine Coast streams and Hinterland areas and people in those areas are reminded to avoid walking, driving or riding through flood waters.

Overnight the SES reported a quiet night with the latest information indicating that in the 24 hours to 5am today, volunteers in the Brisbane region attended 23 jobs, in the North Coast Region they completed 10 jobs and in the South East Region there were seven jobs.

Almost all of these jobs occurred yesterday and were of a minor nature.

For storm and flood assistance contact the State Emergency Service on 132 500 and in a life-threatening emergency call triple zero (000).

Evacuation centre locations revealed

The location of the Gold Coast's 96 evacuation centres has been made public by the Gold Coast Bulletin after Gold Coast City Council received $110,000 from the State and Federal governments' Natural Disaster Resilience Program this week.

The news article published on 8th May, quoted Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) deputy chairman Ted Shepherd :

"... the council would now extend its emergency plan and print booklets, which would include evacuation points."

"We had a generic evacuation plan done for the LDMG ... for in-house disaster management," said Cr Shepherd.

"This will allow us to extend that with more definitive details and we can put it in a nice document and get it out to residents." (Source: Gold coast Bulletin)

The article also states Councillor Dawn Chrichlow saying the full list of centres "should have revealed the centres as soon as they were planned" and that apparently the Councillors were not aware of the centres until they were request by the Gold Coast Bulletin.

The council had previously refused to disclose the 96 planned safe havens, (and) at the time, Mayor Ron Clarke said letting people know where to flee before a bushfire, tsunami or flood would be an information overload that may lead to residents flocking to the danger zone. (Source: Gold Coast Bulletin)

The list, which would have likely already been available to the Council's disaster management unit as lists of potential venues that could be used as evacuation centres, but their suitability and safety would be determined by experts before opening them to the public.

From a disaster management perspective, it wouldn't be prudent to list all of the evacuation centres as "safe havens" as done so within this news article. Residents may assume that during a disaster event, that any centre would be safe, staffed and equipped to deal with them at any time.

Cr Shepherd said the list featured possible evacuation points but they would change depending on the nature of the disaster.

"It will list the evacuation points -- not the routes," he said. (Council) has decided residents could use common sense when viewing the list. (Source: Gold Coast Bulletin)

The list of possible centres/locations as documented by the article is included below:


Clubs

• Ashmore Police Citizens Youth Club
• Band Shell
• Beenleigh Police Citizens Youth Club
• Coomera School of Arts
• McKenzie Park Community Bowls Club
• Southport Soccer Club
• Tugun Surf Life Saving Club Inc
• Twin Towns Police Citizens Youth Club

Community Centres

• Albert Waterways Community Centre
• Beenleigh Community Centre
• Beenleigh Senior Citizens Centre
• Bert Swift Community Centre
• Bethania Community Centre
• Burleigh Heads - Miami Senior Citizens Centre
• Burleigh Waters Community Centre
• Carrara Sports Complex
• Coolangatta Senior Citizens Centre
• Eagleby Community Centre
• Elanora Community Centre
• Gilston Community Centre
• Helensvale Community Centre
• Jacobs Well Community Centre
• Kerrydale Community Centre
• Labrador Memorial Senior Citizens Centre
• Marg Shipman Community Centre
• Mermaid / Broadbeach Senior Citizens Centre
• Mermaid Beach Community Centre
• Nerang Bicentennial Community Centre
• Nerang Community Centre
• Nerang Senior Citizens Centre
• Numinbah Valley School Of Arts Hall
• Palm Beach Neighbourhood Centre
• Palm Beach Share'n'Care Centre Inc
• Paradise Point Community Centre
• Parkwood/Arundel Community Centre
• Pimpama School of Arts
• Pizzey Park Sports Centre
• Robina Common Sporting Centre
• Robina Community Centre
• Runaway Bay Community Centre
• Seventh Day Adventists Comunity Centre
• Silver Bridle Community Centre
• Southport Community Centre
• St Josephs Community Centre
• Stephens Community Centre
• Studio Village Community Centre
• Tallebudgera Valley Community Hall
• Tugun Community Centre
• Tweed Civic Centre
• Yawalpah Community Centre

Churches

• Anglican Parish of Surfers Paradise
• Christian City Church Currumbin
• Lutheran Church
• St Pauls Church Hall
• Trinity Luthern Hall
• Uniting Church
• Uniting Church Hall Robina
• Uniting Church Hall/Day Care Centre
• Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints

General Halls

• Arts Centre
• Banksia Park Hall
• Cedar Creek Hall
• Coomera QCWA Memorial Hall
• CWA Hall - Coolangatta
• CWA Hall - Southport
• CWA Hall - Mermaid Beach
• Eagleby Community Hall
• GC & Albert Museum
• GC Little Theatre
• GC Youth Orchestra Centre
• Masonic Hall
• Miami Great Hall
• Mt Nimell Hall
• Mudgeeraba Memorial Hall
• Mudgeeraba Show Pavilion
• Past Time Hall
• Red Cross Hall
• Spotlight Theatrical Company
• Springbrook Hall
• St Josephs Community Hall
• Tugun Progress Hall
• Woongoolba Hall

Meeting Rooms

• Allamanda Private Hospital
• Old Elanora Library

Schools

• Labrador Kindergarten

Sporting Clubs

• Beenleigh Showgrounds
• Dauth Park Sporting Complex
• Gold Coast International Athletics Center
• Labrador Australian Rules Football Club Ltd
• Runaway Bay Indoor Stadium

Welfare groups

• Central Gold Coast Meals on Wheels Senior Citizens
• Frendship Drop-in Centre
• Nerang Meals on Wheels
• Southport Meals On Wheels Senior Citizens Centre
• St Johns Drop In Centre
• Surfers Paradise Anglican Crisis Care

Regardless of the centres listed above, during a disaster or emergency event, always follow the advise of emergency services as to when and where to evacuate to.

Are you prepared for a disaster on the Gold Coast?

As the clean-up continues across the Central Queensland coast from Tropical Cyclone Ului, the flow on effects are causing further problems for residents, businesses and tourists including:

• thousands of homes & businesses are still without power across the Central Queensland coast (60,000 at the height of the cyclone, 24,000 as of last night),
• without power for pumping stations yesterday, mains water supply was running short in many areas
  
• businesses that are trading are often only accepting cash as EFTPOS facilities are offline for many and customers are running out of cash with limited/no ATM's working or banks open,
• those without mains power (or generators) are likely to have food spoilage with no refrigeration to keep food fresh or frozen,
  
• access to fuel supplies are limited as service stations without power cannot pump fuel.
  

Putting this into perspective, how prepared would you have been if a cyclone or other disaster affected the Gold Coast right now similarly to Tropical Cyclone Ului?

The Gold Coast City Council's disaster management website (goldcoastcity.com.au/disaster) has excellent resources and information on how to be prepared for a disaster event. As a community, our strongest buffer in any disaster is: be informed, be prepared.

Simple ideas include:

• read and keep Council's disaster management at home guide on hand
• put together an emergency kit and first aid kit
• prepare an emergency plan for your home and family
• keep an easy reference emergency contacts list
• know what to do if a disaster hits as outlined in our fast facts on severe floods, storms, bushfires, cyclones, drought and heat wave

The following basic tips regarding getting prepared are from Council's Disaster Management at Home Guide, which is available for download from their website, or printed copies are available from Council offices and libraries.

There are 3 easy steps to plan for an emergency:

1. Have an emergency plan -
   
   • List important details and contact numbers of neighbours, family/friends and emergency response agencies to help your family, household or visitors.
     
   • If you can't get home or in contact with each other, list a meeting place or a contact to leave a message (e.g. neighbour)
   
   
2. During an emergency -
   
   • Listen to the radio for information and updates
   • Stay at home unless told otherwise
   • Have emergency plan and emergency kit ready
   • Be prepared to look after yourself and family for up to three days
   
   
3. During an evacuation -
   
   • Take emergency plan and emergency kit
   • Turn off water, electricity (mains supply) and gas (if applicable)

Emergency Information & Contacts:

If a disaster event or emergency does occur on the Gold Coast, your best source for information and updates will be via your local radio station.

Alternate sources of official information include Gold Coast City Council's disaster management website (goldcoastcity.com.au/disaster) for disaster alerts and media releases (pending power & internet are available), or by telephone through Council's Disaster Hotline on 1800 606 000.


If you do find yourself requiring assistance during a disaster for flood or storm emergencies only, contact the State Emergency Service (SES) on 132 500.




For all other or life threatening emergencies, always call Emergency Triple Zero 000.






Take the time now to read through this information, and get your emergency plan and emergency kit ready. Remember: be informed, be prepared.