North Queensland Monsoon Trough Technical Flood Report

January and February 2019

North Queensland Monsoon Flood Report

Published by the Bureau of Meteorology GPO Box 1289 Melbourne VIC 3001 (03) 9669 4000 www.bom.gov.au

Except logos and photography, this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Australia Attribution License. The terms and conditions of the license are at www.creativecommons.org.au

Cover image: Burdekin Falls Dam spillway taken by Orvon Gough (Charter Towers Regional Council) on 6 February 2019

The Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of its information. The copyright in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Under this licence you are free, without having to seek our permission, to use this publication in accordance with the licence terms. You must keep intact the copyright notice and attribute the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, the State of Queensland as the source of the publication. Note: Some content in this publication may have different licence terms as indicated. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The Queensland Government shall not be liable for technical or other errors or omissions contained herein. The reader/user accepts all risks and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from using this information. North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Table of Contents

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1 2. TECHNICAL REPORT STRUCTURE ...... 2 3. ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS ...... 4 4. METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS ...... 6 5. FLOOD SUMMARY ...... 10 6. CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 15

6.1 DAINTREE RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 15 6.1.1 Rainfall...... 16 6.1.2 River Levels ...... 20 6.2 BARRON RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 21 6.2.1 Rainfall...... 22 6.2.2 River Levels ...... 24 6.3 MULGRAVE–RUSSELL CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 28 6.3.1 Rainfall...... 28 6.3.2 River Levels ...... 31 6.4 JOHNSTONE RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 34 6.4.1 Rainfall...... 34 6.4.2 River Levels ...... 37 6.5 TULLY–MURRAY CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 38 6.5.1 Rainfall...... 38 6.5.2 River Levels ...... 41 6.6 HERBERT CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 43 6.6.1 Rainfall...... 44 6.6.2 River Levels ...... 47 6.7 ROSS-BOHLE CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 50 6.7.1 Rainfall...... 51 6.7.2 River Levels ...... 54 6.8 HAUGHTON RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 58 6.8.1 Rainfall...... 58 6.8.2 River Levels ...... 61 6.9 BURDEKIN RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 63 6.9.1 Rainfall...... 64 6.9.2 River Levels ...... 68 6.10 DON RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 72 6.10.1 Rainfall ...... 73 6.10.2 River Levels ...... 75 6.11 PIONEER RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 76 6.11.1 Rainfall ...... 77 6.11.2 River Levels ...... 80 6.12 CONNORS–ISAAC (FITZROY) CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 82 6.12.1 Rainfall ...... 83 6.12.2 River Levels ...... 85 6.13 THOMSON–BARCOO–COOPER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 88 6.13.1 Rainfall ...... 89 6.13.2 River Levels ...... 92 6.14 DIAMANTINA CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 96 6.14.1 Rainfall ...... 97

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

6.14.2 River Levels ...... 99 6.15 GEORGINA–EYRE ...... 104 6.15.1 Rainfall ...... 105 6.16 NICHOLSON RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 112 6.16.1 Rainfall ...... 112 6.16.2 River Levels ...... 115 6.17 LEICHHARDT RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 116 6.17.1 Rainfall ...... 117 6.17.2 River Levels ...... 119 6.18 FLINDERS ...... 121 6.18.1 Rainfall ...... 122 6.18.2 River Levels ...... 126 6.19 NORMAN RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 130 6.19.1 Rainfall ...... 131 6.19.2 River Levels ...... 133 6.20 GILBERT CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 134 6.20.1 Rainfall ...... 135 6.20.2 River Levels ...... 137 6.21 CAPE YORK PENINSULA CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...... 139 6.21.1 Rainfall ...... 139 6.21.2 River Levels ...... 143 7. APPENDICES ...... 147

APPENDIX 1 – GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS ...... 147 APPENDIX 2 – ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY ...... 154 APPENDIX 3 – QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT USAGE AGREEMENT ...... 155

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

1. Executive Summary

• An active monsoon trough and a slow-moving low pressure system over the northern tropics produced extremely heavy rainfall in tropical Queensland from late January 2019 into early February 2019.

• Many rainfall and river level records were broken with significant impacts felt in both urban and rural areas of northern Queensland as more than 50% of the State was affected.

• In the seven days to 4 February 2019, the Bureau of Meteorology's (Bureau's) site at Townsville Aero recorded 1052.8mm, and 1259.8 mm in the ten days to 8 February. Prior to this event, the Townsville record for a 7-day period was 886.2mm (January 1998).

• There were several sites in elevated areas around Townsville including Paluma, Woolshed, and Upper Bluewater that reported 12-day accumulations of more than 2000 mm.

• In the Gulf Country and north west Queensland, record-breaking rainfall also occurred in previously drought affected regions, including at Julia Creek and Richmond.

• 506 Flood Watches and Warnings were issued across northern Queensland between 23 January and 19 March 2019.

• The rainfall caused major record flooding on the Daintree and Bloomfield Rivers on Australia Day. The flooding then extended to catchments further south and west including the Herbert, Ross, Bohle, Black, Haughton and Burdekin Rivers, and Bluewater Creek. Widespread major flooding was also recorded across the Gulf Country including the Flinders, Cloncurry and Leichhardt Rivers.

• Townsville was significantly impacted, exceeding its previous flood of record by a large margin and directly impacting thousands of properties. The Haughton River at Giru remained above the major flood level for over a week impacting numerous main roads including the Bruce Highway.

• Heavy rainfall was also recorded in the upper catchments of the Georgina and Diamantina rivers and Cooper Creek over the same period. Flooding was most significant on the Diamantina River and continued well into mid-March as the water moved slowly downstream through the extensive network of channels.

• In addition to the extreme rainfall recorded, cool temperatures and strong winds were also of significance and contributed to the loss of significant numbers of cattle across the Gulf Country region.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

2. Technical Report Structure

This report provides a summary of the antecedent conditions, meteorology and hydrology associated with the heavy rainfall and flood event in northern Queensland in late January and early February 2019. In particular:

• Section 3: Antecedent Conditions: This section outlines the antecedent conditions leading up to the monsoon trough including soil moisture conditions.

• Section 4: Meteorological Conditions: This section provides an overview of the development of the Monsoon Trough including a summary of some of the most significant rainfall totals recorded.

• Section 5: Flood Summary: This section provides a high-level hydrological summary of what happened on the various rivers including significant flood peaks.

• Section 6: Catchment Summary: This section goes through each catchment detailing the dates of all the Flood Watches and Flood Warnings issued, the most significant rainfall recorded, peak river levels as well as their historical significance. It starts with the Daintree River in the north, moving down the Queensland coast to the Connors/Isaac catchment extending westwards to include the Channel Country, and then further north to the Gulf Country and finally the Cape York Peninsula.

• Appendices: There is a list of appendices at the end of the report that includes a glossary of terms and an outline of the methodology used in the assessment of the data contained in this report.

In addition to this report, there are other publications which have been released by the Bureau that either provide more details of the Monsoon Trough weather event or further information on the riverine flood warning services provided to the Queensland community:

• Special Climate Statement 69: "An extended period of heavy rainfall and flooding in tropical Queensland"

• Analysis of 13U which was the principal system associated with generating the rainfall that produced the flooding across northern Queensland in January and February 2019.

• National Arrangements for flood forecasting and warning

• Queensland's Service Level Specification

• A set of catchment specific informational brochures

• A series of flood network maps showing the monitoring network available for each catchment

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

The Inspector-General Emergency Management released a post event review here and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority released their North and Far North Queensland Monsoon Trough State Recovery plan here (details some of the human, social, economic and environmental impacts).

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

3. Antecedent Conditions

Typically, the northern wet season runs from October to April. However, a delayed start to the 2018–19 northern wet season saw large parts of the northern tropics away from the North Tropical Coast District in Queensland record below average rainfall in the six months to 31 December 2018 as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Rainfall deciles for the six months July to December 2018.

Rainfall and flooding from ex-tropical cyclones Owen and Penny occurred across Cape York Peninsula and parts of the North Tropical Coast District during December 2018 and early January 2019, which left catchments in these areas saturated. Although some areas were saturated in the lead up to the Monsoon Trough event, there were large parts of Northern Queensland with dry catchments at the beginning of the

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

event as shown in Figure 2 below. Figure 2 also shows the significance that the rainfall event had on soil moisture in February.

Figure 2. Root-zone soil moisture totals (top panel) and deciles (bottom panel) for December 2018, January 2019 and February 2019 respectively1

1 Data from BoM AWRA-L model, viewer available here: http://www.bom.gov.au/water/landscape/

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

4. Meteorological Conditions

In late January, a burst of monsoonal westerly winds invigorated a weak monsoon trough located through the Arafura Sea and northern Gulf of Carpentaria. Several low-pressure centres were initially present around Cape York, before a tropical low designated '13U'2 was identified over land, east of Mapoon on 23 January 2019. By 25 January 2019, the monsoon trough stretched across the northern tropics from tropical cyclone Riley in the Indian Ocean, to 13U located over the Cape York Peninsula. The low moved westward over the northeastern Gulf of Carpentaria the following day and deepened. Tropical cyclone advices were issued for the Gulf of Carpentaria coast, but the system moved back over the Cape York Peninsula near Cape Keerweer early on 26 January 2019 and did not develop into a tropical cyclone.

Later on 26 January 2019, thunderstorms developed on the monsoon trough and produced torrential rainfall about the Mossman and Daintree catchments of the North Tropical Coast District. In the 24 hours to 9am on 27 January 2019, Mossman Central Mill recorded 562 mm, China Camp 426 mm, and Daintree Village 405 mm.

Tropical low 13U then moved slowly southwest into the southern Gulf Country and remained there between 31 January and 5 February 2019. At the same time, the monsoon trough extended eastwards from this low through Cardwell and into the Coral Sea. A blocking high in the Tasman Sea contributed to keeping the monsoon trough near-stationary during this period which directed humid easterly flow onto the coast to the south of the monsoon trough.

This humid easterly flow resulted in torrential rain for about a week both near the tropical low over northwest Queensland and to south of the monsoon trough over the Herbert and Lower Burdekin District, most notably Townsville and surrounding areas. The monsoon trough and embedded lows continued to track slowly eastwards during 8 February 2019, with rainfall easing over Queensland's interior. By 9 February 2019, the monsoon trough and embedded lows had moved off the Queensland coast.

Figure 3 and Figure 4 below show the mean sea level pressure charts for the period 26 January to 9 February 2019 and also a graphical display of the total rainfall recorded from 26 January to 9 February 2019.

2 Tropical lows that are deemed to have potential to form into tropical cyclones are given designations indicating the ordinal number of the low for the season, and ‘U’ denoting the Australian region

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Figure 3. Sequence of mean sea level pressure (MSLP) charts from January 26 to 9 February 2019

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Figure 4. Event rainfall totals from 26 January to 9 February 2019.

The heaviest rainfall recorded during the event occurred in the Townsville, Bluewater and Paluma areas, with some locations exceeding their average annual rainfall in less than a week. More than 2 metres of rainfall was recorded over a 12-day period at numerous locations. Some significant multi-day rainfall totals are shown in Table 1.

Multi-day Station End date of Days of Station name rainfall total number accumulation period accumulation (mm) 532047 Upper Bluewater Alert 2223.0 2019-02-06 10 532049 Paluma Alert 2212.0 2019-02-05 10 33307 Woolshed 1669.2 2019-02-05 7 532091 Rollingstone Al 1425.0 2019-02-05 7 32040 Townsville Aero3 1259.8 2019-02-08 10 Table 1. Significant multi-day rainfall totals at sites around Townsville for January to February 2019

3 The multi-day rainfall totals at Townsville Aero exceeded site records for February at all durations from two to twelve days, with the accumulations for six or more days being a record for any month.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Over northwest Queensland, the areas around Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek and Cloncurry received the highest rainfall. Many locations received well over their average annual rainfall in less than a week and numerous long-standing daily and weekly rainfall records were broken. Table 2 shows some sites with 30 or more years of data that set new multi-day rainfall records for any month

Multi-day Station End date of Days of Station name rainfall total number accumulation period accumulation (mm) 29030 Lands End Station 637.0 2019-02-06 7 29092 Brinard Station 624.8 2019-02-06 7 30082 Gregory Springs Station 580.2 2019-02-05 7 29027 Kamilaroi Station 514.0 2019-02-06 7 30045 Richmond Post Office 498.4 2019-02-07 7 29036 Millungera Station 771.5 2019-02-06 9 Table 2. Significant multi-day rainfall records at sites in northwest Queensland, January – February 2019

Julia Creek Airport reported a record 581.8 mm in the 10 days ending 7 February 2019, though the station does have a relatively short record of 19 years. This location also reported its highest daily rainfall on record for any month, with 233.0 mm to 9am on 5 February 2019.

Rainfall records are discussed at length in the Bureau of Meteorology's Special Climate Statement 69.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

5. Flood Summary

509 Flood Watches and Flood Warnings were issued during January, February and March 2019 associated with the rainfall from the monsoon trough. Figure 5 provides an overview of the minor, moderate and major flood peaks recorded between the 20th January and the 16th March 2019, covering more than 50% of the State (note the flood peaks in southeast Queensland were from a separate event).

Figure 5. Peak flood heights recorded during Jan – March 2019

It all began on the 23 January 2019, when flood-producing rainfall was forecast across Cape York Peninsula, initiating the first Flood Watch. The Flood Watch area was extended on 24 January 2019 to include the eastern Gulf of Carpentaria catchments (Gilbert and Norman) as well as all North Tropical Coast catchments from the Daintree River south to the Herbert River.

The Flood Watch area was further extended on 25 January 2019 to include the catchments in and around Townsville (Ross, Bohle, Black and Bluewater). By 26 January 2019, the northern extent of the Flood Watch was contracted (Jack Jacky Creek, Olive, Pascoe, Jardine, Jackson, Skardon, Wenlock, Embley and Mission rivers were all removed) but extended slightly south to include the Haughton River.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Widespread thunderstorm development during the afternoon and evening of 26 January 2019 produced intense rainfall across the Bloomfield, Daintree and Mossman River catchments and caused record flooding in the Daintree River at Daintree Village. Figure 6 shows the extent to which the Daintree River rose during the afternoon and evening of 26 January 2019. Significant rises also occurred in the Bloomfield River to the north of Daintree Village, heavily impacting the community of Wujal Wujal.

Figure 6. Flood debris hangs from overhead power lines following record flooding of the Daintree River the previous evening. Photo courtesy of Ergon Energy.

Widespread heavy rainfall and major flooding occurred over coastal and inland areas between Cardwell and Bowen from 29 January 2019 to 9 February 2019. This included the Herbert, Upper Burdekin, Bohle, Ross and Haughton Rivers. Heavy rainfall associated with the tropical low and rising flood levels also affected the Flinders and Leichhardt Rivers in the Gulf Country from 31 January 2019 to 26 February 2019.

The weather pattern remained largely static for the following five days, with heavy rain continuing to fall in coastal areas between Cardwell and Bowen, and across inland areas between Mt Isa and Hughenden.

The most significantly impacted areas near the coast included:

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

• Townsville in the Ross River catchment, where new multi-day rainfall and peak flood height records were set. Infrastructure, businesses and thousands of properties were impacted. Figure 7 shows the extent of flooding across parts of Townsville.

• Giru on the Haughton River, where equal record-flood levels were recorded, and the town remained isolated for over a week.

• The Burdekin River, where the road crossing at Sellheim (Macrossan Bridge) was flooded for over a week, cutting the flow of traffic between Charters Towers and Townsville. Burdekin Falls Dam (Queensland's largest water storage) spilled, with approximately 16,000 m3/s of water flowing over the spillway at the peak of the flooding.

Figure 7. Aerial footage looking south over Rosslea during the Townsville flood event. (Image courtesy of the Australian Defence Force)

Widespread major flooding also occurred across the Gulf River catchments including the Flinders, Cloncurry and Leichhardt rivers. The Flinders River, Queensland's longest river, experienced its most significant flooding in at least the last 50 years with floodwater breaking out into the adjoining Norman River catchment, which was clearly visible from space (Figure 8 below). Once the floodwater receded it became evident that graziers had suffered considerable livestock losses.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Figure 8. Floodwater from the Flinders River breaks out across a wide area about 100km southwest of Normanton (Image courtesy of Benjamin Day – Maritime Safety Queensland).

Heavy rainfall was also recorded in the upper reaches of the Georgina and Diamantina rivers and Cooper Creek catchments over the same period. The most significant flooding was on the Diamantina River and continued well into March as the water moved slowly downstream through the extensive braided channels and floodplains.

The most significant flood peaks are listed in Table 3 with a more detailed breakdown of all recorded flood peaks presented in the Section 6.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Flood Classification Height of Date and Time Flood Years of Highest on Record River Station River Name Peak of Recorded (m) Class Rank Record (m) Peak Minor Mod Major Reached Ht (m) Date Daintree 26/01/2019 Daintree River 12.60 4 6 9 Major 1st 118 NEW RECORD Village 11:55 PM Bloomfield 26/01/2019 China Camp 8.92 - - - N/A* 1st 49 NEW RECORD River 11:40 PM Richmond 07/02/2019 Fliers River 9.38** 5 6 8 Major 1st 47 NEW RECORD Post Office 09:00 PM 05/02/2019 24/01/1974 Julia Creek Julia Creek 5.03 3.5 4 4.5 Major 2nd 48 5.43 06:33 PM 21:30 Unknown Walkers Bend Flinders River 17.12 (taken from 5 5.3 5.6 Major 1st 45 NEW RECORD flood mark) Leichhardt 07/02/2019 02/02/2009 Floraville 10.09** 5 6.5 8 Major 2nd 32 10.18 River 07:30 AM 07:10 13/02/2019 Normanton Norman River 4.91 2 4 6 Moderate 4th 45 8.80 Jan 1974 12:00 PM Aplin Weir 03/02/2019 Ross River 3.36 1 1.7 2.9 Major 1st 21 NEW RECORD (Townsville) 11:28 PM 31/01/2019 01/03/2018 Giru Haughton River 3.20 1.8 2.1 2.5 Major =1st 41 3.20 01:23 PM 18:24 Sellheim 05/02/2019 04/03/1946 Burdekin River 18.10 12 14 15 Major =8th 149 21.79 (Macrossan Br) 10:00 PM 04:00 Burdekin Falls 09/02/2019 21/02/1991 Burdekin River 6.27 3 5.5 8 Moderate 3rd 1991 6.82 Dam 08:13 AM 03:00 09/02/2019 03/04/1958 Inkerman Br Burdekin River 11.10 7 10 12 Moderate 18th 108 12.62 11:51 PM 23:15 07/02/2019 Winton Western River 3.55 1.5 2 3.5 Major 6th 69 5.01 Jan 1955 11:30 PM Diamantina Diamantina 10/02/2019 30/01/1974 7.68 2 4 6 Major 2nd 54 7.71 Lakes River 03:00 PM 02:22 Diamantina 22/02/2019 07/02/1974 Birdsville 8.15 4 6 8 Major 7th 70 9.45 River 04:00PM 09:00

Table 3. Significant peak heights recorded between 26 January and 22 February 2019. *No flood classifications are defined for China Camp, but significant impacts occurred downstream at the township of Wujal Wujal.

**Height observed has been compared to peak heights recorded from the current site. Higher peaks have been recorded at the previous location of this station but are not directly comparable.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

6. Catchment Summary

6.1 Daintree River Catchment Summary

The Daintree River basin is located about 100 km northwest of Cairns in far north tropical Queensland and measures a total area of 2125 square kilometres. The basin comprises the three riverine sub- catchments of the Mossman River, Daintree River and Bloomfield River. The Great Dividing Range is at its closest to the coast in this area and comprises mostly of inaccessible rainforests and mountain woodlands. The World-Heritage 'Daintree National Park' (1502 sq km) is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland that spans across all three sub-catchments.

The Daintree River is the largest sub-catchment, draining an area of 1240 sq km. The river rises in the Great Dividing Range, approximately 20 km southwest of Daintree, the largest town within the catchment. It initially flows in a northerly direction before turning southeast and passing through Daintree Village before finally entering the Coral Sea.

The Mossman River sub-catchment is situated south of the Daintree River, and is a relatively small sub- catchment that drains an area of 106 sq km. It is characterised by similar steep-sided and tall mountains very near to the coast and includes the Mossman Gorge National Park that can be impacted by flash flooding.

The Bloomfield River sub-catchment is situated north of the Daintree River sub-catchment and drains an area of 264 sq km through to the China Camp gauging station, situated a few kilometres upstream of Wujal Wujal township. The Bloomfield River basin is largely situated to the south-west of Wujal Wujal and includes the Bloomfield Falls located upstream of the China Camp river height station.

More information on the flood warning service provided for the Daintree River basin is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/daintree/daintree.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/daintree/daintree.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/daintree/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/daintree/Far-North-Qld_map.pdf

The flood warning services provided for the Daintree River basin during the late January and early February flood event is outlined in Table 4 below.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Daintree River basin flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 14 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 24 January 2019 (Issue #2) Date of Initial Flood Warning Friday 25 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Monday 28 January 2019 Forecast locations affected Daintree Village Table 4. Summary of Daintree River basin flood warning services

The remote automatic gauging station at Bairds on the upper reaches of the Daintree River was impacted by unprecedented flood levels which disrupted the continuous data record. As a result, the initial significant flood peak on 26 January 2019 was not recorded, however an estimate of the peak was determined from observed flood marks. The station was repaired by 30 January 2019 when the site became accessible, but communications outages caused further periodic data disruptions between 6 and 13 February. A short-term data outage also occurred at the Daintree Village station on 23 January 2019 for scheduled routine maintenance. However, this occurred prior to heavy rainfall across the catchment and did not impact reporting of the record flood peak on 26 January 2019.

6.1.1 Rainfall

The most significant rainfall over the Daintree River catchment occurred between 25 and 27 January 2019 with the heaviest falls occurring in a 24- to 36-hour period ending around 2 pm on 27 January. The highest daily rainfall total of 562 mm was recorded in the 24 hours to 9 am on 27 January at Mossman Central Mill. An event total of 847 mm at Black Mountain, situated to the south of Port Douglas, was the highest recorded rainfall total for the Daintree catchment for the period from 23 January to 8 February 2019 and included 557 mm recorded in the three days from 9 am on 24 January to 9 am on 27 January 2019. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Daintree catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 5.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 White Cliff 0.0 15 62 59 263 14 27 38 34 76 19 1.2 35 45 6.2 3.0 7 704.4 Point Black Mt TM 0.0 16 68 118 371 28 37 29 39 79 12 3.0 36 1.0 4.0 6.0 - 847 267 in 2 35 in 2 Reef Park - 4.0 255 8.0 - - 16 2.0 33 8.0 - - - 628 days days Port Douglas - 10 - 103 246 7.0 19 12 7.0 - 21 2.0 25 5.0 6.0 1.0 - 464 Warner St Mossman 5.0 33 83 119 378 24 22 17 18 40 7.0 5.2 24 5.0 - - - 780.2 South Mossman - - - 0.0 562 3.0 7.0 33 17 - 7.0 4.0 21 - - - - 654 Central Mill Whyanbeel - 35 84 141 422 30 16 7.0 10 26 11 5.0 21 2.0 2.0 1.0 5.0 818 Ck TM Whyanbeel 3.8 37 - 149 472 47 8.4 30 19 - 16 2.6 - - - - - 784.8 Valley Bairds TM 3.0 25 30 158 375 21 - - - 26 9.0 5.0 38 10 7.0 0.0 - 707 Daintree 97 in 2 8.0 129 405 73 in 3 days - - 6.0 8.0 17 22 5.5 - - 770.5 Village days China Camp 0.0 3.0 29 131 426 26 15 27 20 14 23 2.0 34 2.0 3.0 4.0 9.0 768 TM Table 5. Summary of Daintree River Basin Catchment daily rainfalls

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Note: Data highlighted red denotes the highest recorded rainfall for that day, and for the event. Definitions for AWS, SYN, AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report rainfall during the event have been excluded from the above table.

The Intensity-Frequency-Duration (IFD) plot for Bairds, Figure 9, indicates rainfall intensities with less than 10% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) for durations between 1 and 48 hours and less than a 1% AEP for the 6-hour duration. The most significant rainfall totals for each duration are also provided below in Table 6.

Figure 9. Bairds TM Rainfall Intensity -Frequency-Duration plot.

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 5 minutes 9.0 25/01/2019 07:44 25/01/2019 07:49 > 63.2% 10 minutes 15.0 26/01/2019 21:22 26/01/2019 21:32 > 63.2% 15 minutes 22.0 26/01/2019 21:17 26/01/2019 21:32 50% – 63.2% 30 minutes 41.0 26/01/2019 21:43 26/01/2019 22:13 20% – 50% 1 hour 77.0 26/01/2019 21:15 26/01/2019 22:15 5% – 10% 2 hours 131.0 26/01/2019 20:12 26/01/2019 22:12 1% – 2% 3 hours 164.0 26/01/2019 19:45 26/01/2019 22:45 1% – 2% 6 hours 256.0 26/01/2019 16:18 26/01/2019 22:18 < 1% 12 hours 329.0 26/01/2019 11:32 26/01/2019 23:25 2% – 5% 24 hours 456.0 25/01/2019 23:25 26/01/2019 23:25 2% – 5% 2 days 562.0 25/01/2019 07:00 27/01/2019 06:51 5% – 10% 3 days 592.0 24/01/2019 16:00 27/01/2019 16:00 10% – 20% 4 days 617.0 23/01/2019 16:00 27/01/2019 16:00 10% – 20% 5 days 630.0 25/01/2019 05:00 30/01/2019 05:00 20% – 50% 6 days 649.0 23/01/2019 15:00 29/01/2019 15:00 20% – 50% 7 days 661.0 23/01/2019 09:00 30/01/2019 09:00 20% – 50% Table 6. Bairds TM Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration analysis

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

The IFD plot for China Camp TM (Bloomfield River sub-catchment), Figure 10, indicates rainfall intensities of less than a 1% AEP for durations between 2 and 6 hours. The most significant rainfall totals for each duration are also provided below in Table 7.

Figure 10. China Camp TM Rainfall Intensity -Frequency-Duration plot.

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 5 minutes 12.0 26/01/2019 20:12 26/01/2019 20:17 20% – 50% 10 minutes 21.0 26/01/2019 20:10 26/01/2019 20:20 20% – 50% 15 minutes 30.0 26/01/2019 20:10 26/01/2019 20:25 10% – 20% 30 minutes 52.0 26/01/2019 19:55 26/01/2019 20:25 5% – 10% 1 hour 91.0 26/01/2019 19:26 26/01/2019 20:26 1% – 2% 2 hours 149.0 26/01/2019 18:26 26/01/2019 20:26 < 1% 3 hours 206.0 26/01/2019 17:29 26/01/2019 20:29 < 1% 6 hours 299.0 26/01/2019 15:30 26/01/2019 21:30 < 1% 12 hours 364.0 26/01/2019 11:00 26/01/2019 23:00 1% – 2% 24 hours 476.0 26/01/2019 04:10 27/01/2019 04:09 2% – 5% 2 days 576.0 25/01/2019 06:00 27/01/2019 06:00 2% – 5% 3 days 609.0 24/01/2019 17:00 27/01/2019 17:00 5% – 10% 4 days 624.0 24/01/2019 19:00 28/01/2019 19:00 10% – 20% 5 days 645.0 25/01/2019 06:00 30/01/2019 06:00 10% – 20% 6 days 652.0 24/01/2019 06:00 30/01/2019 06:00 10% – 20% 7 days 655.0 23/01/2019 09:00 30/01/2019 09:00 10% – 20% Table 7. China Camp TM Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration analysis

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

A comparison of daily and weekly rainfall averaged over the catchment for this event, and other significant rainfall events for the Daintree River catchment are provided in Table 8 and Table 9. Daily and weekly rainfall averaged over this catchment for this event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 20 December 1933 99.28 1 25 March 1956 98.64 3 14 March 2012 97.36 20 09 January 1981 95.84 35 29 February 1972 88.90 100 27 January 2019 75.13 258 Table 8. Daintree significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 11 January 1981 476.43 1 08 February 1933 465.99 2 16 March 2012 425.53 13 26 March 1956 401.30 20 29 February 1972 399.52 23 30 January 2019 251.38 588 Table 9. Daintree significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

A comparison of daily and weekly rainfall averaged of the catchment for this event and other significant rainfall events for the Bloomfield River catchment are provided in Table 10 and Table 11. Daily and weekly catchment average rainfall for this event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 11 February 1949 375.83 1 09 April 1982 302.61 2 04 March 1935 288.90 3 19 March 2004 252.69 5 01 January 1979 237.80 6 26 January 2019 152.1 33 25 December 2018 129.30 62 Table 10. Bloomfield significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 06 March 1935 659.75 1 16 February 1949 648.24 3 07 January 1979 617.29 8 20 March 2004 601.99 11 31 December 2018 588.37 14 09 April 1982 446.32 89 30 January 2019 417.75 125 Table 11. Bloomfield significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

6.1.2 River Levels

Significant flooding was recorded in both the Daintree and Bloomfield Rivers during this event with new peak flood height records set for Daintree Village on the Daintree River and China Camp on the Bloomfield River. Hydrographs for Daintree Village TM on the Daintree River, Figure 11, and China Camp TM on the Bloomfield River, Figure 12, reveal rapid river level rises following the period of intense rainfall between 25 and 27 January 2019.

Figure 11. Hydrograph of the Daintree River at Daintree Village TM

Figure 12. Hydrograph of the Bloomfield River at China Camp TM

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

The most significant peaks recorded at river height stations in the Mossman, Daintree and Bloomfield river catchments between 25 January and 13 February 2019 are listed below in Table 12, including their historical significance. Nearly all the stations recorded new peak flood height records during this event.

Height Date and Time Flood Classification Flood Years of Highest on record Station name of Peak of Recorded (m) class Rank Record (m) Peak Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date

Mossman River

26/01/2019 Mossman TM 8.27 Flood classifications not defined 3 70 8.65 12/04/2014 11:00 PM

Daintree River

27/01/2019 Bairds TM 16.58* 4 6.5 10 Major 1 50 NEW RECORD 00:30 AM Daintree 26/01/2019 12.60 4 6 9 Major 1 46 NEW RECORD Village TM 11:55 PM

Bloomfield River

26/01/2019 China Camp TM 8.92 Flood classifications not defined 1 49 NEW RECORD 11:40 AM Table 12. Significant peak heights recorded in the Daintree River basin between 25 January and 9 February 2019

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

*Peak height has been estimated from a flood mark after the event. 6.2 Barron River Catchment Summary

The Barron River has a catchment area of approximately 2100 sq km above the mouth of the delta which at Kamerunga (a northern suburb of Cairns). The headwaters of the catchment are located immediately east of Atherton. From the headwaters, the river flows north through Tinaroo Falls Dam and continues in a northerly direction through Mareeba before it takes an easterly turn near Bilwon and flows generally eastward to the Barron River delta. More information on the Barron River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/barron/barron.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/barron/barron.shtml and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/barron/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/barron/Barron_Mulgrave-Russell_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Barron River catchment during the late January and early February 2019 flood event is summarised in Table 13.

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Barron River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 8 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 24 January 2019 (Issue #2) Date of Initial Flood Warning Friday 25 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Saturday 27 January 2019 Forecast locations affected Kamerunga Bridge, Cairns Airport Table 13. Summary of Barron River flood warning services.

6.2.1 Rainfall

Heavy rainfall was recorded in the Barron River catchment on multiple days during this event, with the most significant rainfall totals recorded on 27 January 2019, particularly in the lower half of the catchment. Copperlode Dam AL recorded the highest rainfall within the Barron River catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019, with 989 mm. Saddle Mountain AL recorded the highest daily total of 387 mm on 27 January 2019. Several stations within the catchment recorded multiple days in excess of 100 mm across the period. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Barron catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 14.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Maunds Rd 2.0 3.0 4.0 72 75 20 17 9.0 18 44 17 14 40 12 27 2.0 5.0 381 TM Atherton Solar 1.2 13 7.0 90 87 26 22 30 35 51 16 17 40 18 25 - 9.0 487.2 Crescent Boar Pocket 4.0 8.0 36 183 141 18 35 57 41 52 10 14 56 7 20 2.0 1.0 685 AL Bones Knob 1.0 4.0 12 82 69 23 25 15 34 44 14 16 46 17 29 2.0 10 443 AL Graham Rd 0.0 7.0 8.0 90 80 14 18 10 18 42 18 16 49 14 26 6.0 6.0 422 TM Mt Quincan 8.0 4.0 3.0 67 76 12 11 9.0 9.0 29 18 12 32 8.0 17 2.0 2.0 319 TM Tinaroo Dam 0.0 0.0 9.0 122 36 4.0 12 12 4.0 31 4.0 8.0 65 3.0 28 1.0 7.0 346 AL Tinaroo Dam 0.0 3.0 20 134 84 12 12 11 5.0 36 7.0 7.0 77 4.0 31 2.0 10 455 TM Walkamin 0.2 2.0 8.0 85 79 5.2 20 11 40 39 19 15 45 5.0 27 5.4 16 421.8 DPI Mareeba 0.0 0.8 20 66 69 2.2 13 6.4 21 39 18 17 63 4.2 33 2.2 1.6 376.4 Airport AWS Mareeba AL 0.0 5.0 11 67 86 2.0 16 4.0 11 38 26 13 62 8.0 22 2.0 3.0 376 Mareeba TM 0.0 6.0 10 69 87 1.0 16 5.0 11 39 26 13 65 9.0 22 2.0 3.0 384 Emerald 0.0 0.0 33 91 77 2.0 23 8.0 9.0 37 18 10 58 8.0 26 3.0 4.0 407 Crest AL Bilwon AL 0.0 2.0 33 113 109 2.0 10 3.0 8.0 42 20 6.0 46 7.0 14 0.0 3.0 418 Bolton Road 1.0 2.0 30 66 107 9.0 59 14 14 45 22 13 62 14 5.0 6.0 2.0 471 AL Mona Mona 0.0 11 100 117 210 10 90 14 22 55 5.0 3.0 26 12 8.0 4.0 1.0 688 AL Flaggy Creek 0.0 9.0 102 146 218 20 127 31 38 77 13 6.0 52 19 12 5.0 2.0 877 AL Kuranda 2.0 20 115 95 350 31 52 45 45 - 35 3.0 25 19 10 - - 847 Railway Stn. Kamerunga Br 4.0 15 131 97 258 34 23 37 65 91 47 2.0 33 19 13 6.0 2.0 877 AL Saddle 3.0 38 88 71 387 48 22 31 34 68 39 2.0 24 24 9.0 3.0 0.0 891 Mountain AL

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Copperlode 2.0 20 96 163 219 22 68 66 52 103 43 4.0 68 28 18 12 5.0 989 Dam AL Brinsmead AL 6.0 15 105 74 220 46 24 37 68 102 60 1.0 34 21 15 8.0 1.0 837 Cairns Ap 1.6 27 77 58 277 57 16 60 62 119 51 1.2 34 26 16 1.8 5.4 890 AWS Cairns Airport 3.0 26 75 75 317 59 13 65 57 127 46 1.0 29 25 15 2.0 1.0 936 AL Cairns Racecourse 1.8 12 65 - 282 77 16 - 80 115 73 - 27 32 22 8.4 0.6 811.8 AWS Table 14. Summary of Barron Catchment daily rainfalls.

Analysis of the IFD plots was conducted across the rainfall recorded at several locations within the Barron River catchment during this event. Generally, the rainfall recorded at very short durations (less than 1 hour) was less significant than those of durations between 2 and 24 hours. For durations greater than 24 hours, the IFD results varied between locations and were most significant at locations that had multiple days of heavy rainfall. Flaggy Creek Alert's 5- to 7-day rainfall totals were of notable significance with an AEP of 5%–10%. The IFD analysis for Boar Pocket Alert is presented Figure 13 and Table 15 and shows the lowest AEPs of 2%–20% occurred for durations of 2 to 12 hours and 10– 20% for durations of 5 to 7 days.

Figure 13. Boar Pocket AL Rainfall Intensity –Frequency–Duration plot

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Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 31/01/2019 19:40 31/01/2019 19:41 > 63.2% 2 minutes 3.0 25/01/2019 8:37 25/01/2019 8:39 > 63.2% 3 minutes 5.0 3/02/2019 13:05 3/02/2019 13:08 > 63.2% 4 minutes 6.0 29/01/2019 9:58 29/01/2019 10:02 > 63.2% 5 minutes 8.0 29/01/2019 10:01 29/01/2019 10:06 > 63.2% 10 minutes 14.0 29/01/2019 9:57 29/01/2019 10:06 50% – 63.2% 15 minutes 20.0 29/01/2019 9:55 29/01/2019 10:10 20% – 50% 30 minutes 31.0 29/01/2019 9:55 29/01/2019 10:25 20% – 50% 1 hours 46.0 25/01/2019 12:21 25/01/2019 13:21 20% – 50% 2 hours 82.0 25/01/2019 11:44 25/01/2019 13:44 5% – 10% 3 hours 111.0 25/01/2019 11:24 25/01/2019 14:24 2% – 5% 6 hours 143.0 25/01/2019 8:26 25/01/2019 14:25 5% – 10% 12 hours 182.0 25/01/2019 7:18 25/01/2019 19:18 10% – 20% 24 hours 210.0 25/01/2019 7:18 26/01/2019 7:18 20% – 50% 2 days 350.0 25/01/2019 7:18 27/01/2019 7:18 10% – 20% 3 days 374.0 24/01/2019 22:18 27/01/2019 22:18 20% – 50% 4 days 412.0 25/01/2019 10:37 29/01/2019 10:25 20% – 50% 5 days 462.0 25/01/2019 5:59 30/01/2019 5:59 10% – 20% 6 days 508.0 24/01/2019 22:18 30/01/2019 22:18 10% – 20% 7 days 559.0 24/01/2019 22:18 31/01/2019 22:16 10% – 20% Table 15. Boar Pocket AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

Daily and weekly rainfall averaged over the catchment for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events. The maximum daily catchment rainfall total in this event ranked 41st (see Table 16), while the maximum weekly catchment rainfall total in this event ranked 91st (see Table 17).

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 12 March 1967 312.41 1 31 March 1911 299.81 2 1 April 1911 299.08 3 27 January 2019 148.28 41 Table 16. Barron significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 2 April 1911 970.09 1 3 April 1911 919.84 2 7 January 1979 853.35 3 01 February 2019 387.35 91 Table 17. Barron significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals).

6.2.2 River Levels

Hydrographs for the key locations within the Barron River catchment from 25 January to 13 February 2019 are shown in Figure 14 to Figure 18. The plots show the most significant river level rises across the catchment occurred early in the event, following the heavy rainfall that was recorded between 25 and 27 January 2019. Subsequently, several other peaks were observed during the following one to two weeks, but these peaks were less significant.

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Figure 14. Hydrograph of Barron River at Bilwon Alert

Figure 15. Hydrograph of Clohesy River at Bolton Road Alert

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Figure 16. Hydrograph of Flaggy Creek at Flaggy Creek Alert

Figure 17. Hydrograph of Barron River at Kamerunga Bridge Alert

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Figure 18. Hydrograph of Barron River at Cairns Airport Alert

The most significant peaks at river height stations in the Barron River catchment recorded between 24 January and 13 February 2019 are listed in Table 18. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. No peaks during this event ranked in the top 10 historical peak heights.

Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Barron River

No significant peak Below Mareeba AL/TM 4.8 8.0 9.0 n/a 50 12.40 Feb 2000 recorded. Minor Kamerunga 27/01/2019 6.04 5.0 6.5 8.0 Minor 11 24 8.35 March 2018 Bridge AL/Man 05:30 AM 27/01/2019 Below Cairns Airport AL 2.23 2.5 3.0 3.5 18 52 3.9 March 1977 05:33 AM Minor Tinaroo Dam HW 09/02/2019 Below February 0.46 1 1.5 2 31 68 2.33 AL/TM 01:02 PM Minor 1999 Tinaroo Dam TW 09/02/2019 Below 4.28 2.097 3 3.5 4 25 68 March 1977 TM 05:00 AM Minor 27/01/2019 February Bilwon AL/TM 7.56 6 9 10 Minor 23 26 15 02:33 AM 2000 27/01/2019 Bolton Road AL 6.82 1.5 6 8 Moderate 18 16 13.77 March 2018 01:30 AM Flaggy Creek 27/01/2019 9.04 5.34 4.5 - 6 Minor 14 26 April 2014 AL/TM 10:23 AM 27/01/2019 Myola Al/TM 7.14 5 8.5 10 Minor 30 62 15.37 March 1911 04:43 AM 27/01/2019 Lake Placid AL 10.74 10.3 11.2 12 Minor 16 16 13 March 1977 04:55 AM Table 18. Significant peak heights recorded in the Barron catchment between 25 January and 9 February

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Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.3 Mulgrave–Russell Catchment Summary

The Mulgrave and Russell rivers have a catchment area of approximately 440 sq km and extend 25 km south of Cairns to the Mutchero Inlet. The Mulgrave River (located in the northern section of the catchment) and Russell River (located in the southern section of the catchment) drain the mountain country dominated by Bellenden Ker and Bartle Frere, Queensland’s highest mountains and the area with the highest average annual rainfall in Australia. Flooding in the Mulgrave River at Gordonvale can cut the Bruce Highway and the main rail link to the south. More information on the Mulgrave–Russell catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/mulgrave/mulgrave.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/mulgrave/mulgrave.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/barron/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/barron/Barron_Mulgrave-Russell_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Mulgrave–Russell catchment during the late January and early February 2019 flood event is outlined in Table 19.

Mulgrave and Russell River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued Flood event 1:11 Flood event 2: 2 Flood event 3: 4 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 24 January 2019 (Issue #2) Date of Initial Flood Warnings Flood event 1: Friday 25 January 2019 Flood event 2: Sunday 27 January 2019 Flood event 3: Thursday 31 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warnings Flood event 1: Sunday 27 January 2019 Flood event 2: Monday 28 January 2019 Flood event 3: Sunday 2 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Peets Bridge, Gordonvale Table 19. Summary of Mulgrave–Russell rivers flood warning services

6.3.1 Rainfall

Heavy rainfall was recorded in the Mulgrave–Russell catchment on multiple days during this event, with the most significant rainfall totals recorded between 26 and 28 January 2019 when heavy rainfall was recorded catchment-wide. Peets Bridge AL recorded 954 mm of rainfall between 23 January and 8 February 2019 which was the highest event total for the Mulgrave–Russell Basin. Hill Creek TM recorded the highest daily total of 243 mm on 27 January 2019. Many stations within the catchment recorded two to three consecutive days of rainfall in excess of 100 mm. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Mulgrave–Russell catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 20.

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Goldsborough 2.0 4.0 17 83 116 50 27 33 30 61 23 20 40 1.0 24 2.0 7.0 540 Valley AL The 1.0 4.0 36 171 117 46 46 73 53 82 36 16 32 2.0 33 1.0 2.0 751 Fisheries AL The - 4.0 32 134 104 41 41 57 25 70 36 15 27 2.0 27 1.0 1.0 617 Fisheries TM Gillies 1.0 7.0 55 176 136 28 29 45 32 49 15 11 31 1.0 25 0.0 4.0 645 Lookout AL Peets Bridge 2.0 7.0 55 229 219 74 54 51 63 86 29 7.0 34 7.0 29 5.0 3.0 954 AL Peets Bridge 2.0 7.0 49 212 189 73 43 45 60 79 24 7.0 30 6.0 29 4.0 4.0 863 TM 350 over 135 over 83 over three Mulgrave Mill - - - 33 107 79 12 8 7.0 - 814 two days two days days Gordonvale 4.0 3.0 50 170 169 96 33 38 94 80 41 6.0 30 13 12 4.0 1.0 844 AL Hills Creek TM 5.0 28 57 103 243 119 10 38 44 112 43 11 36 17 14 10 1.0 891 Morgan Rd Gordonvale 4.0 12 59 139 159 141 19 36 115 93 54 4.0 40 22 7.0 15 0.0 919 TM Meringa ------494 44 100 ------638 Aloomba TM 5.0 7.0 36 186 164 163 15 46 79 81 47 6.0 28 12 4.0 7.0 0.0 886 Vohland 8.0 6.0 46 138 159 155 14 40 81 79 33 7.0 24 14 3.0 6.0 0.0 813 Rd TM Mt Sophia 7.0 12 50 97 220 184 22 40 108 77 34 8.0 26 13 6.0 8.0 1.0 913 Harvey 14 6.0 2 75 140 144 15 37 73 35 10 5.0 6.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 3.0 571 Creek TM Russell River - - - 65 192 46 35 47 25 ------410 Waugh 9.0 6.0 28 31 145 56 2.0 14 34 37 34 3.0 15 7.0 7.0 1.0 18 447 Culvert TM Bucklands TM 12 28 11 58 162 118 18 80 96 78 58 11 29 1.0 9.0 3.0 3.0 775 The Boulders 10 37 35 127 236 79 16 26 40 41 34 15 31 1.0 15 0.0 7.0 750 TM Clyde Rd AL 17 35 6.0 86 220 183 17 89 96 84 59 12 27 6.0 7.0 5.0 2.0 951 Table 20. Summary of Mulgrave–Russell Basin daily rainfalls

Analysis of the IFD plots was conducted across the rainfall recorded at several individual locations within the Mulgrave–Russell River catchment during this event. Generally, the rainfall recorded at very short durations (less than 2 hours) was less significant than those of longer durations and the AEPs decreased as the duration increased up to multiple days. The IFD analysis for Peets Bridge Alert is presented in Figure 19 and Table 21 and shows the lowest AEP for this station during the event was 5%-10% for the 7-day period.

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Figure 19. Peets Bridge AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 25/01/2019 8:14 25/01/2019 8:15 > 63.2% 2 minutes 4.0 25/01/2019 8:13 25/01/2019 8:15 > 63.2% 3 minutes 6.0 5/02/2019 18:02 5/02/2019 18:05 > 63.2% 4 minutes 8.0 5/02/2019 18:02 5/02/2019 18:06 > 63.2% 5 minutes 9.0 25/01/2019 11:02 25/01/2019 11:07 > 63.2% 10 minutes 15.0 25/01/2019 13:53 25/01/2019 14:03 > 63.2% 15 minutes 20.0 25/01/2019 13:49 25/01/2019 14:04 > 63.2% 30 minutes 33.0 25/01/2019 13:40 25/01/2019 14:10 > 63.2% 1 hours 49.0 25/01/2019 13:02 25/01/2019 14:02 50% – 63.2% 2 hours 83.0 25/01/2019 12:14 25/01/2019 14:13 20% – 50% 3 hours 107.0 25/01/2019 11:02 25/01/2019 14:02 20% – 50% 6 hours 161.0 25/01/2019 10:47 25/01/2019 16:45 10% – 20% 12 hours 224.0 25/01/2019 5:40 25/01/2019 17:40 10% – 20% 24 hours 268.0 25/01/2019 6:51 26/01/2019 6:38 20% – 50% 2 days 487.0 25/01/2019 5:59 27/01/2019 5:52 10% – 20% 3 days 575.0 24/01/2019 23:12 27/01/2019 22:51 10% – 20% 4 days 605.0 25/01/2019 5:40 29/01/2019 5:40 10% – 20% 5 days 651.0 25/01/2019 6:51 30/01/2019 6:43 10% – 20% 6 days 733.0 25/01/2019 5:40 31/01/2019 5:39 10% – 20% 7 days 822.0 24/01/2019 23:40 31/01/2019 23:39 5% – 10% Table 21. Peets Bridge AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Daily and weekly rainfall averaged over the catchment for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events. The highest daily catchment rainfall total in this event ranked 78th (see Table 22), while the highest weekly catchment rainfall total in this event ranked 157th (see Table 23).

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 12 March 1967 485.4 1 1 April 1911 421.57 2 2 March 1935 375.43 3 27 January 2019 195.05 78 Table 22. Mulgrave–Russell significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 4 April 1911 1407.51 1 5 April 1911 1392.66 2 3 April 1911 1369.39 3 01 February 2019 604.48 157 Table 23. Mulgrave–Russell significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals).

6.3.2 River Levels

Hydrographs for the key locations within the Mulgrave–Russell catchment from 25 January to 5 February 2019 are shown in Figure 20 to Figure 23.

The plots show the most significant river level rises across the catchment occurred early in the event following heavy rain between 26 and 28 January 2019 and resulted in two peaks at most locations. Subsequently, several other peaks were observed during the following week, but these peaks were less significant.

Figure 20. Hydrograph of Mulgrave River at The Fisheries Alert

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Figure 21. Hydrograph of Mulgrave River at Peets Bridge Alert

Figure 22. Hydrograph of Mulgrave River at Gordonvale Alert

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Figure 23. Hydrograph of Russell River at Bucklands TM

The most significant peaks at river height stations in the Mulgrave–Russell catchment recorded between 25 January and 5 February 2019 are listed in Table 24. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. No peaks during this event ranked in the top 10 historical peak heights.

Date and Height Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name of Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Mulgrave River

27/01/2019 Gordonvale AL 12.35 12 13 14 Minor 53 99 17.5 March 1967 03:04 AM Peets Bridge 27/01/2019 February 6.45 5 7 8 Minor 70 47 10.7 AL/TM 01:18 AM 1977 The Fisheries 27/01/2019 19 December 3.8 2.5 5 7 Minor 21 9.0 AL/TM 00:34 AM 2010

Russell River

27/01/2019 Below The Boulders TM 3.051 4.5 5 6 68 92 7.6 Feb 2001 06:15 AM minor 28/01/2019 Clyde Rd AL 0.98 0.4 1 2 Minor 11 11 1.73 March 2018 01:30 AM 27/01/2019 Bucklands TM 6.387 6 7 8 Minor 121 80 8.8 March 1949 11:00 AM

Table 24. Significant peak heights recorded in the Mulgrave–Russell catchment between 25 January and 9 February

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

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6.4 Johnstone River Catchment Summary

The North and South Johnstone rivers rise in the tablelands of the North Tropical Coast District and flow through steep narrow gorges to their confluence on the coastal plain at Innisfail. The headwaters of the catchments are located in high rainfall areas and the rivers are capable of producing severe flooding, especially in the Innisfail area. The North and South Johnstone rivers have a combined catchment area of about 1600 sq km at Innisfail. More information on the Johnstone River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/johnstone/johnstone.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/johnstone/johnstone.pdf

and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/johnstone/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/johnstone/Herbert_Johnstone_Murray_Tully_map.pdf

The flood warning services provided for the Johnstone River catchment during the late January and early February 2019 flood event are summarised in Table 25.

Johnstone River flood warning service overview No of Flood Warnings issued Nil Date of Flood Watch Thursday 24 January 2019 (Issue #2) Date of Initial Flood Warning Nil Date of Final Flood Warning Nil Forecast locations affected Nil Table 25. Summary of Johnstone River flood warning services.

6.4.1 Rainfall

Heavy rainfall was recorded in the Johnstone catchment on only a few days during the period from 23 January to 8 February 2019. Saltwater Creek AL recorded the highest daily total, with 205 mm to 9am on 27 January 2019, and the highest event total of 841 mm. Daily rainfall totals recorded at several locations in the Johnstone catchment are provided in Table 26.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Malanda AL 3.0 4.0 1.0 74 76 8.0 23 10 12 24 24 16 32 9.0 18 2.0 7.0 343 Glen 7.0 14 2.0 110 113 12 21 42 24 22 22 12 39 5.0 14 3.0 9.0 471 Allyn AL Glen 6.0 14 1.0 106 103 11 19 40 22 20 20 11 36 5.0 11 3.0 8.0 436 Allyn TM Mckell 10 9.0 7.0 54 65 20 28 18 41 39 17 20 41 17 15 5.0 30 436 Road AL Topaz AL 23 49 32 52 151 25 14 59 22 25 15 8.0 36 6.0 10 1.0 88 616 Bartle 21 49 49 79 131 35 99 38 18 22 18 6.0 34 19 19 9.0 73 719 View AL Greenhaven 13 30 - 65 82 33 56 19 14 28 27 10 22 23 7.6 1.0 - 431 Greenhaven 11 27 7 52 82 28 52 18 14 27 28 9.0 20 23 6.0 1.0 54 459 AL

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Millaa Millaa 18 19 14 51 87 22 76 18 16 30 20 6.0 30 18 16 5.0 89 535 AL Crawfords 9.0 29 14 95 126 33 90 26 17 30 15 8.0 31 12 16 11 86 648 Lookout AL Upper Fisher 13 37 28 111 137 30 36 25 21 37 11 6.0 29 9.0 8.0 25 102 665 Ck TM Fisher Ck TM 10 32 5.0 116 140 25 4 25 25 37 8.0 7.0 28 4.0 16 9.0 84 575 Rankin 14 41 18 103 172 30 23 30 27 35 9.0 15 32 5.0 20 16 93 683 Creek TM Nerada AL 15 38 11 92 173 32 19 31 29 29 9.0 16 31 6.0 15 10 54 610 Tung Oil AL 16 45 4.0 119 163 33 6 35 32 47 15 7.0 22 25 10 14 66 659 Tung Oil TM 16 41 3.0 109 150 29 5 33 29 42 14 6.0 20 23 8.0 14 59 601 McAvoy 16 45 4.0 81 141 50 12 59 77 40 37 5.0 17 10 7.0 1.0 32 634 Bridge AL Garradunga 14 35 12 60 169 84 19 71 100 46 47 7.0 18 7.0 8.0 2.0 13 712 AL Saltwater 13 31 2.0 82 205 86 22 62 151 56 44 8.0 26 13 11 0.0 29 841 Creek AL Sutties 4.0 37 3.0 68 69 28 43 12 15 24 22 5.0 17 31 7.0 2.0 74 461 Creek AL Menavale AL 13 63 5.0 90 116 32 36 26 19 30 14 6.0 37 8.0 13 38 105 651 Corsis AL 13 46 24 118 147 28 5 22 26 32 9.0 11 31 6.0 27 32 94 671 Central 7.0 29 9.0 50 145 20 6 34 48 43 18 5.0 27 11 9.0 19 45 525 Mill AL Central 7.0 27 9.0 48 136 20 5 33 47 41 18 4.0 27 11 9.0 18 43 503 Mill TM Mourilyan 13 25 3.0 42 151 50 14 47 100 47 53 4.0 17 4.0 10 4.0 55 639 Mill AL Friels Rd Teak 13 31 10 68 160 25 8 36 61 48 21 5.0 26 25 8.0 7.0 51 603 Plant TM South Johnstone 7.0 32 1.8 43 140 26 9.4 37 63 52 20 4.0 22 31 7.8 16 46 558 AWS Mourilyan 15 28 2.0 40 151 58 20 56 112 58 37 3.0 17 4.0 9.0 4.0 72 686 Bore TM Sweeney 8.0 43 0.0 64 133 56 21 51 110 39 43 5.0 18 14 5.0 1.0 37 648 Creek U/S AL Marco 14 41 2 91 145 31 7 25 36 35 21 5.0 24 23 8.0 11 56 575 Street AL Innisfail 14 62 0.4 92 136 58 16 53 123 46 46 5.0 20 14 7.2 0.4 50 743 Innisfail 12 42 0.0 57 130 53 17 45 118 43 40 4.0 18 12 7.0 0.0 45 643 Wharf AL Japoonvale 18 72 10 110 119 13 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ------342 AL Japoonvale 16 78 10 113 122 44 28 31 24 41 21 10 42 8.0 20 37 78 723 TM Silkwood TM 12 66 2.0 127 93 43 14 39 56 51 28 12 29 13 26 35 45 691 Lower 10 58 2.0 104 92 57 32 41 84 58 27 4.0 24 11 17 26 37 684 Liverpool TM Warrubullen 6.0 41 0.0 83 66 29 4.0 15 67 30 1.0 3.0 26 0.0 1.0 42 17 431 Culvert TM Cowley 13 35 0.8 36 85 88 31 49 99 58 40 2.2 22 71 6.0 9.0 70 715 Beach AWS Table 26. Summary of Johnstone Catchment daily rainfalls

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

The IFD plot and associated table (Figure 24 and Table 27 below) for Saltwater Creek AL, the station with the highest rainfall for this event, indicates that for durations greater than four days, the rainfall was in exceedance of the 50% AEP.

Figure 24. Saltwater Creek AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 2019-01-28 00:47 2019-01-28 00:48 > 63.2% 2 minutes 4.0 2019-01-26 12:42 2019-01-26 12:43 > 63.2% 3 minutes 4.0 2019-01-26 20:26 2019-01-26 20:29 > 63.2% 4 minutes 6.0 2019-01-26 06:26 2019-01-26 06:30 > 63.2% 5 minutes 6.0 2019-01-30 21:13 2019-01-30 21:18 > 63.2% 10 minutes 11.0 2019-01-30 21:12 2019-01-30 21:21 > 63.2% 15 minutes 17.0 2019-01-30 21:12 2019-01-30 21:27 > 63.2% 30 minutes 23.0 2019-01-30 21:07 2019-01-30 21:36 > 63.2% 1 hours 41.0 2019-01-31 04:26 2019-01-31 05:26 > 63.2% 2 hours 54.0 2019-01-31 03:42 2019-01-31 05:26 > 63.2% 3 hours 60.0 2019-01-31 03:42 2019-01-31 06:42 > 63.2% 6 hours 79.0 2019-01-26 16:46 2019-01-26 22:46 > 63.2% 12 hours 137.0 2019-01-26 11:30 2019-01-26 23:25 > 63.2% 24 hours 240.0 2019-01-26 06:10 2019-01-27 06:06 50% – 63.2% 2 days 340.0 2019-01-26 00:56 2019-01-28 00:55 50% – 63.2% 3 days 375.0 2019-01-25 03:42 2019-01-28 03:42 50% – 63.2% 4 days 404.0 2019-01-26 10:29 2019-01-30 10:20 > 63.2% 5 days 558.0 2019-01-26 05:45 2019-01-31 05:43 20% – 50% 6 days 628.0 2019-01-26 00:42 2019-02-01 00:42 20% – 50% 7 days 701.0 2019-01-25 17:09 2019-02-01 16:58 20% – 50% Table 27. Saltwater Creek AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 1 March 1911 448.32 1 31 January 1913 373.3 2 12 March 1967 344.82 4 27 January 2019 116.27 279 Table 28. Johnstone significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals).

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 4 April 1911 1365.2 1 5 April 1911 1361.17 2 4 March 1935 1192.97 3 1 February 2019 360.6 763 Table 29. Johnstone significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals).

Where the same event resulted in multiple records, other event dates were taken into account and therefore not all ranks are in sequence in the tables above.

6.4.2 River Levels

No significant peak heights were recorded in the Johnstone River for this event. The hydrograph for Central Mill Alert along the South Johnstone River, shown in Figure 25, confirms small river level rises well below the minor flood level.

Figure 25. Hydrograph of the South Johnstone River at Central Mill Alert

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

6.5 Tully–Murray Catchment Summary

The Tully River catchment covers an area of 1475 square kilometres. The Tully River is a relatively short stream, rising in high rainfall areas of the coastal ranges and flowing across the coastal plain. Floods in the Tully River and the adjacent Murray River inundate cane lands, and in larger floods isolate farmhouses as the two rivers merge into one floodplain. A significant impact of Tully River floods is the cutting of the Bruce Highway at Euramo.

More information on the Tully and Murray rivers is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/tully/tully.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/tully/tully.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/johnstone/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/johnstone/Herbert_Johnstone_Murray_Tully_map.pdf

A complete breakdown of the flood warning services provided for the Tully and Murray rivers is outlined in Table 30 below. Flood Warnings for the Tully–Murray catchment were initially finalised on 1 February 2019, but another event ensued shortly after so flood warnings recommenced on 2 February 2019.

Tully/Murray River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued Flood event 1: 15 Flood event 2: 13 Date of Flood Watch Wednesday 23 January 2019 (Issue #2) Date of Initial Flood Warnings Flood event 1: Sunday 27 January 2019 Flood event 2: Saturday 02 February 2019 Date of Final Flood Warnings Flood event 1: Friday 01 February 2019 Flood event 2: Sunday 10 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Euramo, Murray Flats Table 30. Summary of Tully/Murray Basin flood warning services

6.5.1 Rainfall

During this event the Tully and Murray catchment had a period of ten consecutive days where widespread parts recorded rainfall totals greater than 50 mm between 26 January to 4 February 2019. Although the rainfall occurred across the ten days there was an initial burst of intense heavy rainfall during 28 January 2019 and then a more intense burst of very heavy rainfall occurred six days later on 3 February 2019. However, this rainfall remained largely on the coastal plain and did not fall across the range upstream of Tully.

The highest rainfall event total of 1042 mm was recorded at Bulgun Creek, situated in the Tully area on the coastal plain surrounded by steep ranges. A similar rainfall event total of 1034 mm was recorded at Kirrama Range, situated in the headwaters of the Murray River catchment. The highest daily rainfall total of 271 mm was recorded to 9am on 3 February 2019 at South Mission Beach. A full breakdown of daily rainfalls from several station are provided in Table 37.

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Koombooloom 17 41 5.0 47 71 29 10 8.0 17 18 11 27 17 14 8.0 13 11 364 ba AL Koolmoon TM 13 32 1.0 73 70 32 18 16 24 11 24 3.0 4.0 14 2.0 2.0 0.0 339 Maalan 16 27 12 69 81 32 71 17 13 24 55 11 18 28 7 8.0 61 550 Road AL Tully Gorge 8.0 51 3.0 42 71 33 22 10 11 32 35 10 13 35 15 12 21 424 AL Bolinda Estate 8.0 63 5.0 62 87 47 27 12 21 30 15 13 23 44 13 27 20 517 AL Davidson 14 55 2.0 79 92 51 5.0 15 15 28 8.0 20 66 48 39 35 20 592 Creek AL Bulgun Creek 15 105 20 73 121 124 181 31 23 40 35 72 28 23 80 29 42 1042 AL Tully AL 10 39 14 77 78 79 48 22 18 36 30 48 51 46 66 20 39 721 Tully Sugar 10 36 - 76 79 79 47 21 18 - 29 49 51 45 65 20 - 625 Mill Euramo AL 24 20 7.0 50 79 108 40 18 22 26 22 35 70 33 40 14 30 638 South Mission 4.0 18 7.0 48 86 89 56 49 40 57 29 271 65 40 50 29 23 961 Beach AL Bingil Bay 8.8 117 2.0 50 103 101 29 59 53 65 52 15 20 11 19 11 31 746.8 Upper Murray 5.0 13 14 125 67 54 32 11 24 39 20 76 49 22 66 67 106 790 AL Upper Murray 4.0 12 13 119 62 50 29 11 22 37 16 74 45 21 62 63 101 741 TM Corduroy 17 9.0 13 70 63 60 11 13 20 13 22 27 13 45 23 75 14 508 Creek TM Upper Murray 28 21 19 82 81 123 11 17 27 22 29 24 43 39 33 65 26 690 Rd TM Murray 28 20 13 65 82 131 18 21 20 24 32 29 64 39 30 32 34 682 Flats AL Kirrama 22 31 28 111 108 171 60 21 35 34 47 32 46 27 77 96 88 1034 Range AL Bilyana AL 8.0 15 17 107 87 167 22 18 37 31 25 87 63 49 62 57 50 902 Kennedy 10 12 16 47 72 142 38 20 54 41 37 104 36 46 82 114 66 937 Valley TM Meunga Creek 11 17 14 39 70 100 114 25 60 73 45 87 49 31 92 59 61 947 AL Meunga Creek 10 15 10 27 55 89 55 24 29 31 21 50 28 17 23 0.0 38 522 Rail TM Cardwell SYN 13 14 13 46 82 138 63 43 42 54 31 61 30 24 30 61 46 791 Cardwell 13 11 8.0 50 88 154 59 49 37 63 30 63 34 23 32 61 40 815 Tide AL Table 31. Summary of Tully/Murray Catchment daily rainfalls

The IFD plot and table shown below (Figure 26 and Table 32) for South Mission Beach indicates that for durations between 10 minutes to 12 hours rainfall had less than a 10% AEP, and that for durations between 30 minutes to 3 hours the rainfall had less than a 1% AEP.

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Figure 26. South Mission Beach Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 5 minutes 15.0 02/02/2019 19:13 02/02/2019 19:18 20% – 50% 10 minutes 30.0 02/02/2019 19:12 02/02/2019 19:22 5% – 10% 15 minutes 43.0 02/02/2019 19:13 02/02/2019 19:28 2% – 5% 30 minutes 79.0 02/02/2019 19:02 02/02/2019 19:32 < 1% 1 hours 144.0 02/02/2019 18:57 02/02/2019 19:56 < 1% 2 hours 201.0 02/02/2019 18:30 02/02/2019 20:28 < 1% 3 hours 212.0 02/02/2019 18:43 02/02/2019 21:43 < 1% 6 hours 255.0 02/02/2019 16:12 02/02/2019 22:11 1% – 2% 12 hours 271.0 02/02/2019 13:44 03/02/2019 01:44 5% – 10% 24 hours 302.0 02/02/2019 15:37 03/02/2019 15:37 20% – 50% 2 days 366.0 02/02/2019 15:03 04/02/2019 14:18 20% – 50% 3 days 400.0 02/02/2019 15:03 05/02/2019 14:23 20% – 50% 4 days 460.0 31/01/2019 18:41 04/02/2019 17:44 20% – 50% 5 days 491.0 29/01/2019 19:44 03/02/2019 19:44 20% – 50% 6 days 565.0 27/01/2019 22:17 02/02/2019 22:16 20% – 50% 7 days 629.0 2019-01-27 19:35 2019-02-03 19:21 20% – 50% Table 32. South Mission Beach Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Daily and weekly rainfall averaged over the catchment for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events. Comparison of the catchment averages from this event to other historical rainfall events are shown in Table 33 and Table 34.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 01 April 1911 372.67 1 14 March 1967 329.77 3 10 February 1927 321.89 5 12 February 1999 304.88 6 02 February 1986 293.28 8 02 March 1935 273.21 12 05 March 1996 238.64 21 13 April 2014 216.82 26 03 February 2011 201.59 36 07 February 2009 199.9 37 10 January 1998 194.4 42 23 January 2013 194.35 43 09 March 2018 185.97 49 27 January 2019 73.83 632 Table 33. Tully–Murray significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 05 April 1911 1263.65 1 16 March 1967 1046.33 5 04 March 1935 1037.84 6 15 February 1927 970.4 14 17 February 1999 662.8 53 11 March 2018 646.32 62 02 February 1986 608.06 80 08 February 2009 546.52 126 25 January 2013 524.93 161 14 January 1998 516.77 174 02 March 2011 478.84 240 08 March 1996 458.89 272 09 February 2014 453.61 284 01 February 2019 306.59 953 Table 34. Tully–Murray significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.5.2 River Levels

No significant peak heights were recorded in the Tully–Murray catchment during this event. Each of the hydrographs shown below in Figure 27 and Figure 28 outline the peaks recorded at the two forecast locations at Euramo and Murray Flats.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Figure 27. Hydrograph of the Tully River at Euramo Alert Station

Communications outage on the rising limb at the gauging station.

Figure 28.Hydrograph of the Murray River at Murray Flats Alert Station

Outlined in Table 35 below is the most significant peak at each of the river height stations in the Tully– Murray catchment recorded during this event (i.e. 28/01/2019 to 13/02/2019).

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Date and Flood Classification (m) Highest on record Height Flood Years Time of Station name of Peak class Rank of Recorded (m) reached Record Peak Minor Mod Major Ht (m) Date

Tully River

Bolinda Estate 23/01/2019 2.70 3 5 7 Minor 38 17 6.60 Feb 2011 AL 11:14 PM

Euramo 28/01/2019 7.38 6 8 9 Minor 88 46 9.37 1967 AL/TM/Manual 08:27 PM

Murray River

Upper Murray 28/01/2019 7.16 6 8 9 Minor 22 48 10.28 Jan 1998 AL/TM 04:23 AM

29/01/2019 Murray Flats AL 7.60 7.0 7.5 8.0 Moderate 15 17 8.88 Mar 2018 01:48 AM

Table 35. Tully–Murray significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.6 Herbert Catchment Summary

The Herbert River catchment is located on Queensland's North Tropical Coast to the north of Ingham. The Herbert River has its headwaters in a high rainfall area of the Great Dividing Range near Herberton and flows through a gorge to the coastal plain near Ingham. The river continues to its mouth near Lucinda where the catchment area is approximately 9000 sq km. The Herbert River responds quickly to heavy rainfall and river rises can be rapid and velocities very high. The area around Ingham is very flat and the town itself is located on the floodplain of the river. Several natural watercourses distribute floodwaters through the town during major flooding with virtually the whole town at risk from flooding. Evacuation of the lower parts of town are required in significant floods where floodwater can rise to depths of 3 m. More information on the Herbert River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/herbert/herbert.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/herbert/herbert.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/johnstone/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/johnstone/Herbert_Johnstone_Murray_Tully_map.pdf

Moderate to major flood levels were recorded along the lower Herbert River during this event. The flood warning service provided for the Herbert River catchment during the late January and early February flood event is summarised in Table 36.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Herbert River flood warning service overview No of Flood Warnings issued 34 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 24 January 2019 (Issue #2) Date of Initial Flood Warning Monday 28 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Sunday 10 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Gleneagle Homestead, Abergowrie Bridge, Ingham Pump Station, Gairloch and Halifax Table 36. Summary of Herbert River flood warning services.

6.6.1 Rainfall

Heavy rainfall was recorded in the Herbert River catchment on multiple days during this event. Ingham Pump Station AL recorded the highest total rainfall for the period from 23 January to 8 February 2019 with 1484 mm and also the highest daily rainfall of 506 mm in the 24 hours to 9am on 3 February 2019. Many stations within the catchment recorded multiple days in excess of 100 mm during the event, with Ingham Pump Station AL recording 10 out of 11 days with daily rainfall totals exceeding 50 mm. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Herbert catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 37.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Herberton AL 1.0 1.0 1.0 43 37 9.0 3.0 15 19 26 10 9.0 48 15 15 4.0 5.0 261 Silver 3.0 2.0 0.0 16 30 10 10 8.0 16 15 7.0 7.0 13 8.0 6.0 1.0 71 223 Valley TM Ravenshoe 7.0 9.0 4.0 41 55 10 15 14 35 18 14 6.0 16 12 3.0 4.0 56 319 AL Archers 1.0 0.0 0.0 15 29 9.0 21 5.0 13 27 15 7.0 13 9.0 5.0 1.0 50 220 Creek TM Crooks Dam 0.0 1.0 0.0 13 26 9.0 25 8.0 5.0 16 9.0 5.0 21 3.0 12 2.0 31 186 Hw TM Mt Garnet - - - 12 24 - 14 8.0 3.5 17 14 - 23 9.6 6.2 2.0 - 133.3 Mt Garnet AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.0 22 8.0 25 3.0 6.0 11 22 4.0 15 6.0 4.0 2.0 23 160 Wooroora TM 3.0 9.0 1.0 26 29 5.0 22 8.0 15 22 13 12 10 6.0 5.0 1.0 68 255 Chalumbin 0.0 16 0.0 29 42 4.0 5.0 15 17 8.0 18 21 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 - 180 TM Innot Hot Springs - 2.2 0.2 11 29 9.8 26 5.0 11 12 9.0 6.8 22 2.0 8.4 1.8 31 187.2 Township Ben Avon 0.0 4.0 0.0 18 22 6.0 10 4.0 14 10 10 5.0 15 4.0 5 1.0 20 148 AL Upper Rudd 1.0 1 0.0 6.0 14 20 16 8.0 28 53 7.0 17 21 9.0 13 8.0 8.0 230 Creek AL Gunnawarra AL 2.0 4.0 0.0 14 20 19 20 5.0 10 27 13 8.0 12 20 15 3.0 6.0 198 (Rudd Ck) Gleneagle AL 0.0 8.0 1.0 11 15 7.0 8.0 4.0 23 8.0 43 24 16 20 30 3.0 9.0 230 Murray 5.0 10 3.0 19 26 10 4.0 4.0 17 13 9.0 9.0 23 14 8.0 11 19 204 Springs AL Yourka AL 3.0 7.0 0.0 30 30 15 7.0 5.0 24 23 6.0 12 13 5.0 6.0 7.0 10 203 Kirrama AL 3.0 3.0 5.0 32 33 25 13 3.0 80 20 10 10 23 15 17 18 23 333 Blencoe 5.0 9.0 3.0 22 30 9.0 13 5.0 51 25 9.0 7.0 13 10 13 24 24 272 Falls TM Nash's 13 16 16 30 44 49 47 6.0 54 15 25 75 52 15 65 53 25 600 Crossing AL Wallaman AL 9.0 12 5.0 39 67 48 29 26 62 23 37 60 68 19 81 53 33 671 Zattas AL 7.0 12 6.0 49 51 65 55 14 53 28 49 56 45 30 101 66 25 712

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gowrie Creek 9.0 14 3.0 46 51 71 58 11 47 25 37 65 51 21 102 68 23 702 TM Abergowrie 8.0 14 4.0 24 40 67 23 17 33 44 20 40 48 50 55 64 11 562 AL Abergowrie 8.0 11 4.0 18 24 55 16 12 16 35 13 53 39 48 53 64 10 479 TM Elphinstone 11 15 - 34 64 63 57 62 63 65 71 54 77 43 72 71 16 838 Pocket Abergowrie 17 17 11 33 62 95 44 55 67 69 66 55 76 44 89 131 15 946 Bridge AL Hawkins 10 21 2.0 40 109 140 123 94 51 68 91 122 88 57 119 84 12 1231 Creek White Crystal 6.0 11 0.0 33 67 48 8.0 11 63 20 30 24 41 27 133 56 - 578 TM Michael 5.0 7.0 8.0 18 66 61 140 39 81 49 44 77 124 57 239 28 62 1105 Creek AL Running 7.0 5.0 6.0 30 105 49 59 53 75 45 41 106 127 52 200 11 - 971 Creek TM Upper Stone 7.2 8.6 12 52 94 71 60 38 82 53 34 100 177 67 222 59 39 1175.8 Peacock 3.0 6.0 0.0 19 83 58 62 43 76 42 33 112 73 20 75 33 14 752 Siding AL Trebonne AL 6.0 21 5.0 39 101 85 67 91 46 63 87 182 80 45 113 68 8.0 1107 Ingham SYN 6.2 12 2.8 37 235 in 3 days 152 56 105 87 419 106 42 74 39 95 1233 Ingham 3.0 6.0 8.0 24 88 58 44 108 49 83 76 373 90 32 85 36 4.0 1167 Depot AL Ingham Pump 3.0 10 1.0 44 97 97 89 124 74 98 104 506 76 34 84 42 1.0 1484 Station AL Ingham Pump 5.0 11 1.0 39 91 80 89 115 58 96 91 457 84 39 93 46 4.0 1399 Station TM Gairloch 6.0 17 1.0 32 99 88 48 142 58 117 86 400 89 57 80 39 7.4 1366.4 Gairloch AL 6.0 14 1.0 31 95 74 49 152 56 117 85 414 90 52 75 42 7.0 1360 Cardwell 11 33 1.6 48 115 164 52 169 61 115 100 310 73 27 87 75 17 1458.6 Range Cardwell Gap 11 26 0.0 48 115 160 55 164 57 123 92 309 81 27 81 65 16 1430 AL Halifax 6.5 - - 24 113 131 82 201 45 - 84 408 38 20 41 30 - 1223.5 Macrossan St Macknade 84 in 2 - - - 33 97 169 81 163 47 - 70 400 124 37 - 1221 Sugar Mill days Halifax AL 4.0 9.0 0.0 26 122 131 90 218 44 118 89 416 47 21 45 33 19 1432 Allingham - - - 32 112 131 73 144 - - - 312 - 41 - - - 845 Forrest Drive Cattle Creek 1.0 4.0 2.0 10 83 39 55 28 17 44 15 86 45 1.0 80 20 7.0 537 Rail TM Poverty 3.0 7.0 3.0 27 95 71 83 83 51 94 78 218 81 30 47 24 16 1011 Hill AL Leichhardt Creek 3.0 1.0 2.0 15 87 48 37 75 19 46 21 107 52 25 42 50 5.0 635 Rail TM Bambaroo 4.0 5.6 - 35 78 80 116 232 70 126 62 218 130 94 67 104 40 1461.6 Table 37. Summary of Herbert River flood warning services.

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfalls recorded a number of locations within the Herbert River catchment during this event. Nearly 1500 mm of rainfall was recorded in several locations with

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

the most statistically significant falls occurring at durations of 30 minutes to 12 hours. The IFD analysis for Ingham Pump Station AL is presented in Figure 29 and Table 38 and shows AEPs of less than 1% for these durations.

Figure 29. Ingham Pump Station AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 4.0 2019-02-02 18:12 2019-02-02 18:13 20% – 50% 2 minutes 7.0 2019-02-02 17:18 2019-02-02 17:20 20% – 50% 3 minutes 10.0 2019-02-02 17:17 2019-02-02 17:20 20% – 50% 4 minutes 13.0 2019-02-02 17:16 2019-02-02 17:20 20% – 50% 5 minutes 16.0 2019-02-02 17:16 2019-02-02 17:20 10% – 20% 10 minutes 31.0 2019-02-02 17:34 2019-02-02 17:44 5% – 10% 15 minutes 43.0 2019-02-02 17:35 2019-02-02 17:50 2% – 5% 30 minutes 84.0 2019-02-02 17:14 2019-02-02 17:44 < 1% 1 hours 145.0 2019-02-02 17:14 2019-02-02 18:14 < 1% 2 hours 203.0 2019-02-02 17:00 2019-02-02 18:58 < 1% 3 hours 211.0 2019-02-02 21:35 2019-02-03 00:35 < 1% 6 hours 322.0 2019-02-02 17:08 2019-02-02 23:08 < 1% 12 hours 495.0 2019-02-02 15:55 2019-02-03 03:24 < 1% 24 hours 508.0 2019-02-02 00:42 2019-02-03 00:42 2% – 5% 2 days 613.0 2019-02-01 03:55 2019-02-03 03:24 2% – 5% 3 days 717.0 2019-01-31 18:55 2019-02-03 17:26 2% – 5% 4 days 830.0 2019-01-30 00:55 2019-02-03 00:49 2% – 5% 5 days 911.0 2019-01-29 03:55 2019-02-03 03:24 2% – 5% 6 days 1 028.0 2019-01-28 03:09 2019-02-03 03:05 1% – 2% 7 days 1 102.0 2019-01-27 03:55 2019-02-03 03:24 1% – 2%

Table 38. Ingham Pump Station Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Catchment-average daily and weekly rainfall totals for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events. Comparison of the catchment averages from this event to other historical rainfall events are shown in Table 39 and Table 40. This is because the rainfall for this event occurred primarily over the lower parts of the catchment which lowers the catchment average compared to an event where rainfall occurs catchment wide.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 10 February 1927 202.45 1 2 February 1986 192.01 2 9 March 2018 136.74 15 31 January 2019 59.0 196 Table 39. Herbert significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals).

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 15 February 1927 500.31 1 14 February 1927 495.95 2 8 February 2009 486.23 4 6 February 2019 265.62 198 Table 40. Herbert significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals).

6.6.2 River Levels

Flooding in the Herbert River catchment for this event was only significant in the lower parts of the catchment and less significant than floods that have occurred in recent years. Hydrographs for key locations within the lower Herbert River catchment from 25 January to 16 February 2019 are shown in Figure 30 to Figure 33.

Figure 30. Hydrograph of Herbert River at Abergowrie Bridge

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Figure 31. Hydrograph of Herbert River at Ingham Pump Station

Figure 32. Hydrograph of Herbert River at Gairloch

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Figure 33. Hydrograph of Herbert River at Halifax The most significant peak at each river height station in the Herbert River catchment recorded between 25 January and 18 February 2019 is listed in Table 41. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. Stations located in the upper catchment on the Tablelands did not receive significant rainfall and therefore did not record significant river levels during this event. Halifax, close to the mouth of the Herbert River, recorded its equal second-highest significant flood peak height during this event

Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Herbert River

Archers Creek No significant peak 6 7 8 N/A - 52 9.76 Feb 1986 TM

Silvery Valley TM No significant peak 5 6 7 N/A - 56 9.69 Mar 1967

Gleneagle AL/TM No significant peak 4.5 7.5 8.0 N/A - 56 19.0 Mar 1967

Gleneagle No significant peak 4.5 8.5 9.0 N/A - 79 19.0 Mar 1967 Homestead Nashs Crossing 07/02/2019 Below 4.35 4.5 6.0 7.5 37 27 11.2 Feb 2009 AL 01:06 AM minor 05/02/2019 Below Zattas AL 3.08 3.5 5.2 7.5 34 21 10.12 Jan 1998 11:00 PM minor Gowrie Creek 29/01/2019 6.90 5.5 6.5 7.5 Moderate 15 60 8.60 Apr 2014 TM 00:50 AM Abergowrie 06/02/2019 7.87 5.5 8.5 12.5 Minor 67 48 17.48 Mar 1977 AL/TM 03:59 AM Abergowrie 06/02/2019 8.96 6 10 14 Minor 50 18 17.24 Feb 2009 Bridge AL/MAN 05:45 AM

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Running Creek 31/01/2019 5.43 5 6 7 Minor 17 48 8.39 Feb 2009 TM 00:30 AM

Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) reached Peak Minor Mod Major Ht (m) Date

Peacock Siding 06/02/2019 11.80 10 12 14 Minor 7 47 13.95 Mar 1997 AL/MAN 05:17 AM 06/02/2019 Trebonne AL 11.02 10 11 12 Moderate 13 52 16.73 Mar 1967 11:15 AM Ingham Pump 06/02/2019 10.77 10 11 12 Minor 82 103 15.20 Mar 1967 Station AL/TM 12:10 PM 06/02/2019 Gairloch AL/Man 10.39 9.5 10.5 11.5 Minor 56 63 12.60 Mar 1967 11:55 AM 08/02/2019 Halifax AL 5.62 4 4.5 5 Major =2 52 5.67 Feb 2009 10:13 AM

Table 41. Significant peak heights recorded in the Herbert catchment between 25 January and 18 February

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.7 Ross-Bohle Catchment Summary

The Ross-Bohle catchment includes the Ross, Bohle and Black rivers and Bluewater Creek located around and just to the north of Townsville with a catchment area of approximately 750 square kilometres. More information on the Ross and Bohle catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/ross/ross.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/ross/ross.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/haughton/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/haughton/Black_Haughton_Ross_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Ross-Bohle River catchment for this event is summarised in Table 42.

Ross/Bohle Rivers flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 77 Date of Flood Watch Saturday 26 January 2019 (issue #4) Date of Initial Flood Warning Tuesday 29 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Wednesday 13 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Aplin Weir and Mt Bohle Table 42. Summary of Ross and Bohle rivers flood warning services

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6.7.1 Rainfall

The Ross, Bohle and Blue rivers and Blackwater Creek catchments experienced heavy rainfall during late January to early February. Over 1000 mm was recorded at every rain gauge listed in Table 43 over the 10 days to 9am on 4 February. The highest 10-day total within the period 23 January to 8 February 2019 was recorded at the Upper Bluewater Alert rain gauge, with a total of 2223 mm recorded to 9am on 6 February 2019. Upper Bluewater Alert also recorded the highest total across the event (2414 mm). The highest 24-hour total recorded within these catchments was at Woodlands Alert (located immediately upstream of Ross River Dam) with a total of 402 mm to 9am on 4 February 2019. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Ross-Bohle catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 43.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Whites Creek AL 0.0 2.0 0.0 10 27 67 133 142 133 216 154 293 78 0.0 73 29 47 1404 Alligator 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 22 62 164 106 123 165 123 214 114 45 59 26 38 1264 Creek AL Woodlands 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9 47 89 136 204 267 112 172 402 40 59 36 17 1590 AL Ross River 0.0 4.0 0.0 1.0 11 44 78 113 192 191 164 179 206 28 49 13 3.0 1276 Dam AL The Pinnacles 0.0 4.0 0.0 1.0 13 45 106 131 192 226 237 239 206 64 88 17 47 1616 AL Aplin 2.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 37 46 75 111 157 186 136 130 175 28 84 10 46 1226 Weir AL Annandale 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 44 61 86 126 170 229 164 208 268 40 114 18 71 1602 AL Mt Margaret AL 0.0 3.0 0.0 2.0 26 56 92 123 248 278 363 232 135 89 106 9.0 28 1790 Little Bohle 0.0 10 0.0 3.0 26 48 80 124 207 213 271 218 193 36 80 7 59 1575 River AL Bohle River 0.0 8.0 0.0 6.0 30 60 99 105 188 205 273 215 226 29 84 10 73 1611 TM Dalrymple 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 31 63 91 114 187 213 283 203 211 31 95 8.0 118 1650 Road AL Stony 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 37 62 63 104 182 198 328 194 167 43 135 11 143 1668 Creek AL Saunders 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 35 66 66 119 180 206 346 196 189 42 135 13 131 1724 Ck AL Yabulu 0.2 0.0 0.6 3.2 39 49 66 117 233 170 217 182 146 57 126 6.5 125 1537 Qld Nickel Townsville 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 36 58 88 119 166 239 155 187 205 44 125 17 132 1571 Airport AL Bushland 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 36 57 63 90 134 175 240 181 215 37 131 12 171 1543 Beach AL Nelly Bay AL 0.0 1.0 0.0 6.0 35 60 81 77 202 195 98 265 155 54 85 13 154 1481 Upper Black 0.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 26 60 103 175 329 336 243 173 175 214 84 21 43 1992 River AL Black 0.0 0.0 3.0 4.0 43 56 67 105 168 196 283 196 160 55 128 9.0 125 1598 River TM Upper Bluewater 1.0 1.0 3.0 3.0 49 101 138 243 376 320 173 217 159 364 132 22 112 2414 AL Bluewater 2.0 3.0 17 6.0 37 63 61 150 278 276 124 173 137 96 84 4.0 141 1652 AL Woolshed 0.0 2.6 0.0 2.0 21 64 140 209 286 286 369 200 173 146 89 26 47 2061 AWS Rollingstone AL 5.0 9.0 0.0 3.0 61 146 141 193 164 197 199 186 246 240 187 19 113 2109 Table 43. Summary of Ross-Bohle catchment daily rainfalls

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An IFD analysis was conducted on the rainfall recorded at gauges within the Ross-Bohle catchments during this event. At most locations, rainfall totals recorded over 4-7 day durations had an annual exceedance probability (AEP) of less than 1%. Most significantly, two locations (Woodlands Alert and Upper Bluewater Alert) recorded rainfall totals down to 30-minute durations that also had AEP values of less than 1%. The IFD analysis for these locations is provided in Figure 34 and Figure 35 with further detail included in Table 44 and Table 45.

Figure 34. Upper Bluewater Alert Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 3.0 2019-01-30 12:39 2019-01-30 12:39 20% – 50% 2 minutes 6.0 2019-02-04 22:53 2019-02-04 22:55 20% – 50% 3 minutes 9.0 2019-02-04 22:59 2019-02-04 23:02 20% – 50% 4 minutes 11.0 2019-02-04 22:58 2019-02-04 23:02 20% – 50% 5 minutes 14.0 2019-02-04 22:59 2019-02-04 23:04 10% – 20% 10 minutes 28.0 2019-02-04 22:58 2019-02-04 23:08 5% – 10% 15 minutes 39.0 2019-02-04 22:53 2019-02-04 23:08 2% – 5% 30 minutes 67.0 2019-02-04 22:58 2019-02-04 23:28 1% – 2% 1 hours 127.0 2019-02-04 22:48 2019-02-04 23:47 < 1% 2 hours 189.0 2019-02-04 22:48 2019-02-05 00:47 < 1%

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Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 3 hours 239.0 2019-02-04 22:48 2019-02-05 01:47 < 1% 6 hours 316.0 2019-01-30 08:21 2019-01-30 14:17 < 1% 12 hours 405.0 2019-01-30 02:32 2019-01-30 14:32 < 1% 24 hours 507.0 2019-01-29 16:01 2019-01-30 15:25 < 1% 2 days 741.0 2019-01-30 03:37 2019-02-01 03:36 < 1% 3 days 959.0 2019-01-29 07:08 2019-02-01 07:08 < 1% 4 days 1 174.0 2019-01-29 23:02 2019-02-02 22:26 < 1% 5 days 1 386.0 2019-01-29 23:02 2019-02-03 23:02 < 1% 6 days 1 702.0 2019-01-30 02:32 2019-02-05 02:32 < 1% 7 days 1 892.0 2019-01-29 03:20 2019-02-05 03:20 < 1%

Table 44. Upper Bluewater Alert Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration analysis

Figure 35. Woodlands Alert Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration plot Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minute 3.0 2019-02-03 13:33 2019-02-03 13:34 20% – 50% 2 minutes 7.0 2019-02-03 13:38 2019-02-03 13:40 10% – 20% 3 minutes 10.0 2019-02-03 13:37 2019-02-03 13:40 10% – 20% 4 minutes 13.0 2019-02-03 13:36 2019-02-03 13:40 10% – 20% 5 minutes 16.0 2019-02-03 13:36 2019-02-03 13:41 10% – 20% 10 minutes 31.0 2019-02-03 13:33 2019-02-03 13:43 2% – 5%

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Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 15 minutes 44.0 2019-02-03 13:32 2019-02-03 13:47 2% – 5% 30 minutes 78.0 2019-02-03 13:24 2019-02-03 13:54 < 1% 1 hour 130.0 2019-02-03 13:00 2019-02-03 13:59 < 1% 2 hours 151.0 2019-02-03 12:12 2019-02-03 14:11 < 1% 3 hours 231.0 2019-02-03 10:58 2019-02-03 13:57 < 1% 6 hours 323.0 2019-02-03 08:08 2019-02-03 14:07 < 1% 12 hours 394.0 2019-02-03 07:49 2019-02-03 19:48 < 1% 24 hours 465.0 2019-02-03 01:16 2019-02-04 01:09 < 1% 2 days 633.0 2019-02-02 02:03 2019-02-04 01:28 < 1% 3 days 814.0 2019-01-31 23:59 2019-02-03 23:45 < 1% 4 days 1 063.0 2019-01-31 01:16 2019-02-04 01:09 < 1% 5 days 1 244.0 2019-01-29 22:40 2019-02-03 22:39 < 1% 6 days 1 342.0 2019-01-29 00:12 2019-02-04 00:12 < 1% 7 days 1 399.0 2019-01-28 03:12 2019-02-04 03:12 < 1% Table 45. Woodlands Alert Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration analysis

Daily rainfall totals averaged across the whole Ross-Bohle catchment for this flood event were not overly significant when compared with other historical flood events (outlined in Table 46). However, the weekly rainfall averaged over the catchment illustrates the significance of the multi-day rainfall for the Ross-Bohle catchment recorded during this event (outlined in Table 47).

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 3 March 1946 423.65 1 11 January 1998 314.68 2 16 January 1953 300.6 3 31 January 2019 211.55 8 4 February 2019 182.93 18 Table 46. Ross-Bohle significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 4 February 2019 1156.51 1 5 February 2019 1092.32 2 6 February 2019 1043.9 3 3 February 2019 1028.77 4 2 February 2019 872.02 5 7 February 2019 854.54 6 17 January 1953 755.71 7 18 January 1953 750.83 8 8 February 2019 740.34 9 Table 47. Ross-Bohle significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals).

6.7.2 River Levels

At most river level locations in the Ross-Bohle catchment, multiple peaks were observed during the event. In particular, Bluewater Creek had three separate peaks above the major flood level within a three-day period. The Ross River Dam spillway gates were fully opened on the evening of Sunday 3 February and Aplin Weir Alert (downstream of the Ross River Dam) peaked with a record major flood. No data was

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

available for the Bohle River at Mt Bohle for the duration of the event due to an issue with station. Hydrographs for a number of locations in the Ross-Bohle catchment are shown in Figure 36 to Figure 40.

Figure 36. Hydrograph of Ross River at Aplin Weir

Figure 37. Hydrograph of Ross River at Ross River Dam Alert

An independent review into the operation of Ross River Dam during the Monsoon Trough event is available on the Inspector-General Emergency Management website here.

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Figure 38. Hydrograph of Bohle River at Bohle River Alert

Figure 39. Hydrograph of Black River at Black River Alert

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Figure 40. Hydrograph of Bluewater Creek at Bluewater Alert

Table 48 compares the most significant peak recorded between 25 January and 18 February 2019 to the historical record peak for a number of locations within the Ross/Bohle catchment. Record peaks were recorded at some stations in the Ross-Bohle catchment, with this event also close to the record peak for the Black River and Bluewater Creek.

Date and Height Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name of Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Ross River

03/02/2019 Aplin Weir AL 3.36 1.0 1.7 2.9 Major 1 21 NEW RECORD 11:28 PM Ross River 03/02/2019 Historical peak height information is available 42.99 No flood classifications Dam AL 10:12 PM through the Dam operator

Bohle River

Bohle River 02/02/2019 8.4 4.0 5.5 7.0 Major 1 17 NEW RECORD AL/TM 12:49 PM

Black River

Black River 30/01/2019 10/01/1998 7.24 5.0 6.0 7.0 Major 4 42 9.38m AL/TM 01:33 PM 21:30

Bluewater Creek

30/01/2019 10/01/1998 Bluewater AL/TM 9.48 6.0 7.0 8.0 Major 2 44 9.70m 12:43 PM 20:00

Table 48. Ross-Bohle catchment significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

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6.8 Haughton River Catchment Summary

The Haughton River catchment is a relatively small catchment (approximately 1850 sq km) located just to the south of Townsville. The headwaters of the catchment rise in the Hervey Range and its major tributaries include the Reid River and Major Creek. Barratta Creek (located just to the south) acts as an overflow for both the Haughton and Burdekin rivers in large events. More information on the Haughton River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/haughton/haughton.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/haughton/haughton.pdf

and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/haughton/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/haughton/Black_Haughton_Ross_map.pdf

Major flood levels were recorded along the Haughton River catchment during this event. The flood warning service provided for the Haughton River catchment for this event is summarised in Table 49.

Haughton River flood warning service overview No of Flood Warnings issued 52 Date of Flood Watch Saturday 26 January 2019 (issue #4) Date of Initial Flood Warning Tuesday 29 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Friday 8 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Giru Table 49. Summary of Haughton River flood warning service

6.8.1 Rainfall

Heavy rainfall was recorded in the Haughton River catchment on multiple days during this event. Reed Beds AL recorded the most rainfall within the Haughton River catchment during this event with 1478 mm. Upper Major Creek recorded the highest daily total of 262 mm. Many stations within the catchment recorded multiple days in excess of 100 mm during the event, with Donnington Airpark AL recording seven consecutive days of 100 mm or more. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Haughton catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 50.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mingela 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5 5.0 52 69 110 136 - 115 69 137 63 60 - - 817.5 Mingela AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 48 64 103 127 120 111 66 134 50 55 9.0 4.0 895 Upper Reid 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 22 69 103 119 100 101 90 120 39 43 14 28 849 AL Cameron Hill 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 43 125 54 93 63 Station malfunction AL Four Mile AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 6.0 79 114 121 140 110 68 81 110 44 50 7.0 0.0 930 Mt Piccaninny 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.0 97 88 124 251 92 59 113 98 49 44 4.0 3.0 1033 AL Mt Piccaninny 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 9.0 96 87 121 244 35 - 40 98 50 20 4.0 4.0 810 TM

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Donnington 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 5.0 29 126 107 150 160 116 127 165 41 62 14 30 1132 Airpark AL Upper Major 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 79 262 119 201 209 84 44 Station malfunction Ck AL Major Creek 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 91 79 117 261 124 68 138 76 50 60 8.0 22 1100 AL Major Creek 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 5.0 82 72 107 239 111 61 127 70 44 54 7.0 21 1000 TM Powerline AL - - - - 5.0 71 80 86 35 Station malfunction Powerline TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 74 85 90 206 77 53 132 78 101 49 7.0 12 970 Barratta Rd 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 60 78 102 187 29 50 99 69 96 44 11 13 842 TM Reed Beds 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 13 84 191 118 204 190 110 247 90 74 80 37 28 1478 AL Ploza Rd TM 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 10 70 93 70 69 72 51 145 61 88 44 8.0 5.0 787 Giru AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 12 56 110 61 71 27 Station malfunction Cromarty TM 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 10 55 86 61 120 120 55 165 65 54 56 19 23 890 Upper 0.0 4.0 0.0 8.0 3.0 82 56 113 106 80 82 96 61 37 42 12 2.0 772 Barrattas AL Northcote TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 9.0 47 79 101 131 65 52 77 67 101 39 5.0 11 786 Mitchell Rd 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 22 57 104 164 106 87 84 67 64 55 45 3.0 3.0 868 TM Corica Rd TM 0.0 1.0 0.0 4.0 4.0 52 91 62 66 57 48 102 70 111 38 12 5.0 720 Hoeys TM 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 50 100 56 52 62 44 126 84 123 55 8.0 6.0 775 East 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 55 87 58 55 64 53 130 76 130 50 6.0 7.0 780 Barrattas AL Table 50. Summary of Haughton Catchment daily rainfalls.

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfall recorded at stations within the Haughton catchment during this event. Broadly, the rainfalls recorded at shorter durations were less significant than those at 4-7 day durations. The IFD analysis for Reed Beds Alert is provided in Figure 41 and Table 51 and shows AEP value of less than 1% for 5-7 day durations.

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Figure 41. Reed Beds AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minute 2.0 2019-01-28 21:02 2019-01-28 21:03 > 63.2% 2 minutes 4.0 2019-01-28 21:02 2019-01-28 21:04 > 63.2% 3 minutes 6.0 2019-01-28 21:02 2019-01-28 21:04 > 63.2% 4 minutes 9.0 2019-01-28 21:02 2019-01-28 21:06 50% – 63.2% 5 minutes 10.0 2019-01-28 21:02 2019-01-28 21:06 50% – 63.2% 10 minutes 17.0 2019-01-30 05:15 2019-01-30 05:25 50% – 63.2% 15 minutes 23.0 2019-02-01 07:37 2019-02-01 07:52 50% – 63.2% 30 minutes 35.0 2019-01-28 20:59 2019-01-28 21:28 20% – 50% 1 hour 53.0 2019-01-28 20:50 2019-01-28 21:50 20% – 50% 2 hours 82.0 2019-01-31 04:22 2019-01-31 06:21 20% – 50% 3 hours 92.0 2019-01-31 04:09 2019-01-31 06:41 20% – 50% 6 hours 132.0 2019-01-31 02:07 2019-01-31 08:04 20% – 50% 12 hours 205.0 2019-01-31 01:02 2019-01-31 12:55 10% – 20% 24 hours 254.0 2019-02-02 10:46 2019-02-03 10:41 10% – 20% 2 days 405.0 2019-01-30 17:32 2019-02-01 17:32 10% – 20% 3 days 595.0 2019-01-30 23:32 2019-02-02 23:32 2% – 5% 4 days 774.0 2019-01-31 01:04 2019-02-04 01:02 1% – 2% 5 days 907.0 2019-01-29 22:29 2019-02-03 22:29 < 1% 6 days 1072.0 2019-01-28 11:01 2019-02-03 11:00 < 1% 7 days 1175.0 2019-01-28 02:32 2019-02-04 02:32 < 1%

Table 51. Reed Beds AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Daily rainfall totals averaged across the whole Haughton catchment for this flood event were not overly significant when compared with other historical flood events (outlined in Table 52). However, the weekly rainfall averaged over the catchment illustrates the significance of the multi-day rainfall for the Haughton River catchment recorded during this event (outlined in Table 53).

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 3 March 1946 350.33 1 31 January 1978 296.62 2 24 January 2013 197.46 4 31 January 2019 142.08 28 Table 52. Haughton significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals).

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 4 February 2019 770.8 1 5 February 2019 719.58 2 3 February 2019 719.22 3 10 February 1947 713.42 4 Table 53. Haughton significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals).

6.8.2 River Levels

The flood event recorded during late January and early February in the Haughton River catchment was significant for several reasons. The peak recorded in Major Creek late on 31 January 2019 was the highest level recorded within the last 41 years. Although other stations in the catchment did not reach record levels, Giru remained above the major flood level for close to nine days as a result of the prolonged nature of the rainfall event. Hydrographs for key locations in the Haughton River catchment are shown in Figure 42 to Figure 44.

Figure 42. Hydrograph of Major Creek at Major Creek AL/TM

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Figure 43. Hydrograph of Haughton River at Powerline AL/TM

Figure 44. Hydrograph of Haughton River at Giru AL/Manual Data issues were experienced throughout this event, but manual observations were provided to confirm heights recorded at the automatic station were accurate enough for use in flood operations.

Table 54 compares the most significant peak recorded between 25 January and 18 February 2019 to the historical record for all stations in the Haughton River catchment. The peak recorded at Major Creek is the highest peak at this station since it was installed 41 years ago.

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Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Haughton River

Flora Valley Man No data provided 5 5.5 6 N/A - 52 8.90 01/02/2007

Mt Piccaninny 03/02/2019 8.70 3 4 5 Major 4 48 10.51 11/02/2008 AL/TM 05:30 PM Major Creek 31/01/2019 12.77 7 8 9.5 Major 1 41 NEW RECORD AL/TM 07:30 PM 03/02/2019 Powerline AL/TM 11.26 5 6 8 Major 3 50 12.12 12/02/2008 07:40 PM Hustons Farm No data provided 4 5 6.7 N/A - 45 10.77 01/1972 Man 31/01/2019 Giru AL/Man 3.20 1.8 2.1 2.5 Major =1 38 3.20 01/03/2018 01:23 PM

Table 54. Haughton catchment significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.9 Burdekin River Catchment Summary

The Burdekin River Basin drains an area of about 130,000 sq km. Two main tributaries drain the catchment, the Burdekin River flowing from the north and the Belyando from the south, which join at Burdekin Falls Dam. Downstream of the dam, the Bowen and Bogie rivers join the Burdekin River before it flows into the sea between the townships of Ayr and Home Hill. More information on the Burdekin River Basin is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/burdekin/burdekin.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/burdekin/burdekin.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/burdekin/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/burdekin/Burdekin_map.pdf

Major flood levels were recorded along the upper Burdekin River above Burdekin Falls Dam with the largest flood since 2009 recorded along the lower Burdekin River downstream to Inkerman Bridge. The flood warning service provided for the Burdekin River catchment is summarised in Table 55.

Burdekin River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 49 Date of Flood Watch Sunday 27 January 2019 (issue #5) Date of Initial Flood Warning Wednesday 30 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Wednesday 13 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Sellheim, Taemas, Clare, Dalbeg and Inkerman Bridge Table 55. Summary of Burdekin River flood warning service

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6.9.1 Rainfall

The very heavy rainfall recorded in the Ross–Bohle and Haughton rivers catchments also extended into parts of the Burdekin River Basin. The area of most significant rainfall was the relatively small region in and around Paluma, inland of Rollingstone which is north of the Black River and Bluewater Creek catchments. The manual rainfall station located at Paluma (Ivy Cottage) recorded nearly 3000 mm of rainfall in 11 days, with more than 200 mm recorded on six days within this period. Daily rainfalls totals recorded in the Burdekin River Basin between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 56.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Glen - - - 13 18 9.0 11 4.0 35 42 12 20 14 6.0 6.5 6.5 3.0 200 Harding Lava Plains 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 12 18 5.0 9.0 41 42 19 30 29 31 4.0 2.0 12 259 TM * Lucky - - - - 20 8.0 - - - - 75 52 54 121 - - - 330 Springs Valley of 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 15 22 28 24 46 67 43 74 80 45 45 11 27 532 Lagoon TM* Conjuboy - - - - 25 10 8.4 8.8 30 ------82.2 Station Blue Range 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 12 1.0 1.0 18 10 22 16 86 18 86 34 - 309 TM * Gregory - - - - 19 - 6.6 161 43 - 47 70 152 81 56 78 24 737.6 Springs Mt Fullstop - 0.0 0.0 0.0 13 10 7.0 3.0 22 10 17 16 71 12 66 69 31 347 TM * Mt Bradley - 0.0 0.0 0.0 15 8.0 5.0 15 36 52 10 154 66 24 102 30 133 650 TM * Laroona 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 9.0 32 30 30 76 59 84 79 71 67 13 - 554 TM * Paluma 13 26 12 36 93 146 215 331 138 222 Repeater station fail 1232 AL * Paluma 102mm in 5 days 103 160 230 370 143 228 261 281 195 384 180 165 160 2962 Paluma 7.0 9.0 5.0 40 76 101 110 184 99 124 Repeater station fail 755 Dam AL * Bluff - 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 11 5.0 9.0 38 25 22 33 61 37 58 35 7 342 Downs TM * Hillgrove - - - - 4.0 10 13 14 28 42 14 50 40 26 32 33 - 306 Gainsford TM * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 50 42 51 37 70 27 42 50 28 2.0 1.0 408 Keelbottom - 1.0 0.0 2.0 15 58 82 66 199 107 133 118 69 223 91 21 97 1282 TM * Charters 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 26 21 36 48 53 81 13 59 46 21 6.6 1.8 415 Tower SYN Low Holm - - - 0.0 1.0 8.6 10 21 44 - 63 25 38 39 65 80 7.2 401.8 Station Sellheim AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 22 17 48 92 72 70 31 57 47 37 7.0 1.0 503 Ravens- 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 58 34 66 85 55 56 40 53 20 18 5 0.0 494 wood AL * Ravenswood - - - - 4.0 56 38 62 88 - 44 40 51 20 18 0.5 - 421.3 Rivington 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 4.0 AL * Sedgeford AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 Betanga AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 3.0 7.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 2.0 0.0 20 Islay Plains ------9.5 0.0 ------9.5 Zeta AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 0.0 7.0 Violet 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 8.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 13 Grove TM *

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cooinda AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 8.0 Mt Pisgah 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 7.0 AL * Albro - - - - - 13 ------13 Ulcanbah - - - - - 0.2 1.8 4.6 12 9.6 2.2 3.0 21 12 6.8 1.4 5.0 79.6 Winvic ------6.0 10 5.0 2.0 3.4 - 26.4 Frankfield ------4.0 - - - - 8.0 7.0 3.0 5.0 4.0 - 31 Twin Hills 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 9.0 2.0 6.0 0.0 1.0 12 8.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 48 TM * Belyando 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 7.0 35 7.0 17 3.0 6.0 3.0 14 5.0 0.0 0.0 100 X-ing TM * Wentworth ------3.7 2.8 0.8 ------7.3 {Moranbah} Mt Douglas - - - - - 3.8 8.2 ------12 Eaglefield 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 11 18 6.0 3.0 2.0 0.0 7.0 19 4.0 0.0 1.0 73 TM * Dooruna ------5.0 3.2 5.2 - - - - 13.4 Downs Logan ------6.4 4.4 ------0.5 1.0 12.3 Creek TM * Bowen Dev 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 5.0 16 4.0 13 5.0 8.0 1.0 8.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 63 Rd TM * St Anns AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 13 37 12 14 6.0 4.0 5.0 22 2.0 1.0 0.0 121 St Anns TM * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 11 38 11 15 5.0 4.0 3.0 23 1.0 2.0 0.0 119 Scartwater 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 7.0 22 15 15 9.0 2.0 5.0 31 3.0 4.0 0.0 123 AL * Mt ------48 17 30 37 - - 43 13 22 - - 210 Mcconnel Pentland TM * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16 6.0 70 43 21 17 11 36 45 43 16 0.0 324 Glen Houghton Rd T 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 18 5.0 69 38 20 18 12 40 45 42 17 2.0 326 M * Taemas 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 10 11 11 15 8.0 5.0 9.0 16 14 3.0 0.0 106 AL * Taemas - - - - - 5.0 12 13 15 10 7.0 5.0 9.0 20 15 3.0 - 114 Trafalgar ------51 6.2 38 34 17 13 - 159.2 Station Taemas 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 11 10 11 16 8.0 4.0 10 19 15 3.0 0.0 111 TM * Burdekin 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 12 26 25 40 16 10 10 10 7.0 4.0 0.0 168 Dam AL * Burdekin 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 12 26 24 38 17 9.0 10 11 7.0 4.0 0.0 166 Dam TM * Blenheim 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 87 64 53 10 2.0 2.0 5.0 28 1.0 2.0 1.0 260 AL * Old Racecourse - 0.0 1.0 0.0 5.0 18 50 87 35 6.0 2.0 6.0 11 44 23 27 12 327 TM * Eungella 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 11 64 75 45 5.0 0.0 1.0 6.0 31 9 10 10 268 Dam AL * Sandy 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 15 85 388 375 226 176 33 9.0 51 171 111 73 29 1747 Plateau TM* Ernest 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 29 155 139 75 29 2.0 5.0 11 42 12 - - 499 Creek TM * Urannah 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 19 119 102 60 23 0.0 1.0 8.0 37 2.0 2.0 0.0 373 TM * Sutherland 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 7.0 14 44 63 18 17 4.0 3.0 8.0 33 8.0 8.0 0.0 229 AL * The Stone- 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 8.0 32 45 10 8.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 31 1.0 1.0 0.0 147 wall AL * Jacks 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 8.0 53 16 4.0 4.0 2.0 5.0 26 2.0 0.0 2.0 130 Creek AL * Gatton Vale - - - 0.0 0.0 11 15 54 - - 4.0 2.4 6.0 30 0.0 1.4 - 123.8

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Weetalaba 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 39 45 7.0 6.0 1.0 4.0 3.0 47 1.0 0.0 0.0 157 AL * Collinsville 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 17 25 102 21 11 5.6 4.8 6.4 20 3.3 5.2 0.2 222.7 SYN Myuna AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 17 42 59 33 15 12 6.0 3.0 22 4.0 15 0.0 228 Myuna TM * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 18 42 58 33 17 11 7.0 4.0 22 5.0 15 0.0 232 Dalbeg AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 55 20 83 60 66 45 14 20 30 12 14 0.0 419 Strathmore- - - - 0.0 1.0 17 50 68 35 15 17 7.6 6 28 10 11 2.0 267.4 Collinsville Dalbeg TM * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 55 19 84 60 65 46 14 20 30 11 15 0.0 419 Expedition 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 92 34 141 93 69 98 26 53 39 29 17 3.0 699 Pass AL * Upper 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 25 30 132 40 17 12 5 12 42 7 9.0 1.0 333 Bogie AL * Mt Pleasant 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 28 60 154 66 51 28 9 16 47 27 18 0.0 504 AL * Eton Vale 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25 35 104 63 40 26 10 12 42 20 13 6.0 396 AL * Eton Vale - - - - - 29 44 163 56 37 19 9.4 16 45 33 21 - 472.4 Strathbogie 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 50 43 78 61 55 57 15 25 46 21 3.0 2.0 460 AL * Millaroo 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 56 39 105 48 35 61 27 40 41 25 2.0 0.0 484 AL * Landers 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 91 47 146 85 61 81 49 60 31 38 7.0 4.0 703 Creek AL * Clare AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 49 76 87 77 68 66 66 61 60 41 8.0 7.0 666 School Rd 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 43 63 96 101 63 71 65 61 61 39 6.0 6.0 676 TM * Mt Kelly 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 6.0 36 68 31 42 43 50 97 60 86 31 17 6.0 574 AL * Mona Park 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 6.0 60 85 86 91 62 60 94 71 75 36 7.0 8.0 744 TM * Ayr - - 4.0 - - - 43 30 35 43 36 72 - 61 38 32 16 410 Ayr AL * 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 6.0 64 81 28 39 61 67 117 108 110 42 26 11 762 Inkerman 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 57 67 30 34 58 61 77 98 91 35 12 3.0 631 Bridge AL * Brandon 0.0 0.0 1.0 Station malfunction AL * Bowie 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 29 40 55 60 117 80 96 38 22 5.0 544 Rd TM * Kalamia ------94 124 33 94 31 24 - 400 Estate Rita Island AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 7.0 69 97 33 26 58 57 81 91 91 35 23 12 684 Groper 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 4.0 61 80 28 18 48 78 87 57 72 35 5.0 5.0 583 Creek AL * Home Hill - 2.0 159mm in 4 days 39 29 ------70.8 39 Ayr DPI AWS * 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 56 67 31 35 53 55 92 79 93 37 16 6.4 628.4 Homestead Rd 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 60 88 34 24 52 55 63 77 50 39 11 2.0 560 TM * Alva Beach AW - 0.0 0.0 - 9.0 22 62 24 27 39 39 115 84 83 35 59 42 640 S * Table 56. Summary of Burdekin River Basin daily rainfalls

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfall recorded at gauges within the Burdekin River Basin during this event. Broadly, the rainfalls recorded at shorter durations were less significant than those at

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longer 4-7 day durations. The IFD analysis for the data available for Paluma AL is provided in Figure 45 and Table 57 and shows longer duration return period rainfalls (greater than four days) are significant with AEPs generally less than 2%.

Figure 45. Paluma AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 2019-02-01 20:55 2019-02-01 20:56 > 63.2% 2 minutes 4.0 2019-02-01 20:55 2019-02-01 20:56 > 63.2% 3 minutes 6.0 2019-02-01 20:54 2019-02-01 20:56 > 63.2% 4 minutes 8.0 2019-02-04 22:59 2019-02-04 23:02 50% – 63.2% 5 minutes 10.0 2019-02-04 22:59 2019-02-04 23:03 50% – 63.2% 10 minutes 19.0 2019-02-04 23:19 2019-02-04 23:29 20% – 50% 15 minutes 26.0 2019-02-04 22:58 2019-02-04 23:13 20% – 50% 30 minutes 50.0 2019-02-04 22:58 2019-02-04 23:28 10% – 20% 1 hours 76.0 2019-02-04 22:47 2019-02-04 23:47 5% – 10% 2 hours 94.0 2019-02-04 22:47 2019-02-05 00:46 10% – 20% 3 hours 115.0 2019-01-30 04:22 2019-01-30 07:22 10% – 20% 6 hours 200.0 2019-02-04 18:44 2019-02-05 00:43 5% – 10% 12 hours 256.0 2019-02-04 14:50 2019-02-05 02:16 10% – 20% 24 hours 446.0 2019-02-04 01:31 2019-02-05 01:31 10% – 20% 2 days 655.0 2019-02-03 01:02 2019-02-05 01:01 5% – 10% 3 days 897.0 2019-02-02 00:55 2019-02-05 00:54 5% – 10% 4 days 1 126.0 2019-01-31 23:35 2019-02-04 23:34 2% – 5% 5 days 1 308.0 2019-01-31 10:47 2019-02-05 10:40 1% – 2% 6 days 1 621.0 2019-01-30 01:36 2019-02-05 01:31 < 1% 7 days 1 877.0 2019-01-29 01:32 2019-02-05 01:31 < 1% Table 57. Paluma AL Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Table 57 above shows how significant this event was at a local level however Table 58 and Table 59 below show that when this analysis is conducted at the catchment scale both the daily and weekly rainfall averaged over the were not overly significant as the Burdekin River Basin is a very large catchment and having significant rainfall across all parts the catchment concurrently is rare and in this event the rainfall was primarily recorded in the upper part of the basin.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 29 January 1910 89.00 1 24 November 1950 78.22 2 2 February 2007 70.50 4 30 January 2019 29.97 243 Table 58. Burdekin significant catchment averaged rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 17 February 1968 308.55 1 18 February 1968 303.02 2 19 January 2008 250.79 16 7 February 2019 234.18 27 Table 59. Burdekin significant catchment averaged rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.9.2 River Levels

Major flood levels were recorded in the upper Burdekin River at Sellheim (Macrossan Bridge). Flood water from Sellheim, combined with inflows from the Cape River, produced the most significant flood peak at Burdekin Falls Dam and downstream to Inkerman Bridge since 2009. Hydrographs for key locations in the Burdekin River catchment from 29 January to 18 February 2019 are shown in Figure 46 to Figure 51.

Figure 46. Hydrograph of Burdekin River at Sellheim AL/TM/Manual

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Figure 47. Hydrograph of Cape River at Taemas AL/TM/Manual

Figure 48. Hydrograph of Burdekin River at Burdekin Falls Dam AL/TM/Manual

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Figure 49. Hydrograph of Burdekin River at Dalbeg AL/TM

Figure 50. Hydrograph of Burdekin River at Clare AL/TM

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Figure 51. Hydrograph of Burdekin River at Inkerman Bridge AL/Manual

The most significant peak at river height stations in the Burdekin River Basin recorded between 23 January and 18 February 2019 are listed in Table 60. The historical significance of each peak is also provided.

Date and Height Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name of Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Burdekin River

Greenvale No data provided 8.0 12.0 18.0 N/A - 69 21.95 03/1956

Blue Range 05/02/2019 9.71 8.0 12.0 15.0 Minor 24 68 17.05 18/02/1991 AL/Man 08:03 AM 07/02/2019 Mt Fullstop TM 17.98 5.5 11.5 17.0 Major 3 54 18.28 19/02/1991 11:25 AM Sellheim 05/02/2019 18.1 12.0 14.0 15.0 Major 9 149 21.79 04/03/1946 AL/TM/Man 10:00 PM

Scartwater No data provided 1.5 3.5 6.5 N/A - 63 9.56 06/04/1958

05/02/2019 Pentland TM 4.27 4.0 5.0 6.0 Minor =24 50 6.79 15/02/2002 02:14 AM Taemas 07/02/2019 7.96 5.0 7.0 8.0 Moderate 36 69 9.91 07/03/1954 AL/TM/Man 10:00 PM Burdekin Falls 09/02/2019 6.27 3.0 5.5 8.0 Moderate 3 28 6.85 21/02/1991 Dam AL/TM/Man 08:13 AM 09/02/2019 Hydro Site TM 19.77 11.0 17.0 21.0 Moderate 2 41 20.97 21/02/1991 11:41 AM Jacks Creek 31/01/2019 10.81 9.0 19.0 21.0 Minor 29 51 20.01 29/03/2017 AL/TM 10:14 AM 05/02/2019 Myuna AL/TM 5.61 5.0 13.0 15.0 Minor 32 79 15.72 08/04/1940 06:04 PM

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Height Date and Flood Classification (m) Flood Years of Highest on record of Time of Rank Station name class Record Peak Recorded Ht (m) reached Date (m) Peak Minor Mod Major Ht (m) Date

09/02/2019 Dalbeg AL/TM 17.74 10.0 15.0 20.0 Moderate 6 43 20.1 03/02/1991 02:51 PM 30/01/2019 Below Strathbogie AL 6.62 8.5 10.5 11.5 26 61 13.87 21/02/1958 04:12 AM minor 09/02/2019 Millaroo AL 15.35 9.0 13.0 17.0 Moderate 3 50 12.12 12/02/2008 04:30 PM 08/02/2019 Clare AL/TM 14.50 9.0 13.0 17.0 Moderate 5 43 18.25 03/02/1991 09:07 AM Inkerman Bridge 09/02/2019 11.1 7.0 10.0 12.0 Moderate 18 108 12.62 03/04/1958 AL/Man 11:51 PM 08/02/2019 Rita Island AL 2.80 1.0 2.0 3.0 Moderate 3 21 3.70 12/02/2008 11:36 AM 08/02/2019 Groper Creek AL 4.14 3.0 3.5 4.0 Major 3 20 4.54 12/02/2008 05:03 AM

Table 60. Burdekin River Basin significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.10 Don River Catchment Summary

The Don River catchment drains an area of about 1200 square kilometres, rising in the Clarke Ranges and flowing in a northerly direction to its mouth at Bowen. The river falls about 250 metres in the 60 kilometres from its source, near Mt Roundhill, to Mt Buckley. Downstream of Mt Buckley the bed gradient remains relatively steep until the Bowen delta area is reached. The upper catchment is used for beef cattle production while the rich soils of the lower Don delta are extensively used for cropping. More information on the Don River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/don/don.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/don/don.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/don/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/don/Don_OConnell_GregoryProserpine_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Don River catchment is outlined in Table 61 below.

Don River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 25 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 27 January 2017 (issue #5) Date of Initial Flood Warning Tuesday 29 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Thursday 7 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Bowen Pump Station Table 61. Summary of Don River flood warning services.

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6.10.1 Rainfall

The Don catchment experienced widespread heavy rainfall on 30 January 2019 with the highest daily total of 208 mm recorded at Roma Peak AL. A second period of heavy rainfall then occurred between 5 and 7 February 2019 along the coastal parts of the catchment. The highest event total of 716 mm was recorded at Koonandah TM. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Don River catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 62.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Upper Don 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 27 26 112 39 11 7.0 7.0 17 58 25 28 9.0 366 AL Boundary 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 34 32 163 60 30 14 5.0 11 41 8.0 19 4.0 422 Creek AL Pretty Bend 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 33 36 179 65 32 13 9.0 12 39 10 - - 429 TM Emu Creek 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 46 45 131 62 29 21 13 23 55 55 44 14 538 AL Ida Creek AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 46 36 161 51 39 17 8.0 25 48 13 20 1.0 465 Ida Creek TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 47 38 161 53 41 18 8.0 26 51 15 22 2.0 482 Moss Vale AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 30 20 169 49 32 26 7.0 21 51 28 19 2.0 454 Mt Dangar AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 46 34 161 59 41 27 7.0 24 66 23 29 1.0 518 Warden Bend ------37 - - 43 32 9.0 25 - - 46 - 192 Roma Peak 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 44 42 208 61 30 20 7.0 15 49 14 56 11 558 AL Reeves AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 61 36 153 11 45 42 10 30 83 36 50 3.0 563 Telegraph 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 26 48 19 89 23 69 41 14 23 77 39 74 18 560 Road TM Herman Rd 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 23 51 24 113 29 75 81 13 34 93 65 64 11 676 TM Bowen Pump 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25 46 23 91 20 71 56 14 30 89 52 78 16 611 Station AL Bowen 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 27 53 26 109 27 74 69 19 - 103 63 135 9.4 714 Airport AWS Plain Creek 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 27 16 - - - 28 12 15 33 11 12 1.0 162 Rail TM Koonandah 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 28 61 28 169 33 67 43 19 34 90 54 75 15 716 TM Guthalungra 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 13 53 43 53 56 83 71 41 47 62 53 17 2.0 594 TM Balaam Rd 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 22 52 29 170 46 63 54 16 34 82 57 44 7.0 676 TM Big Jack 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 - - - 26 49 0.0 8.0 14 7.0 8.0 113 Creek TM Table 62. Summary of Don catchment daily rainfalls

The IFD plot for the station with the most significant rainfall for the event, Koonandah TM, is shown in Figure 52. The plot shows that the rainfall was most significant for durations of three hours and for 5- to 7-day durations, with an AEP of 10-20%. More detail is included in Table 63.

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Figure 52. Koonandah TM Rainfall Intensity –Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 2019-01-27 07:52 2019-01-27 07:53 > 63.2% 2 minutes 4.0 2019-01-29 18:19 2019-01-29 18:21 > 63.2% 3 minutes 6.0 2019-01-29 18:57 2019-01-29 19:00 > 63.2% 4 minutes 8.0 2019-01-29 18:57 2019-01-29 19:01 50% – 63.2% 5 minutes 9.0 2019-01-29 18:56 2019-01-29 19:01 > 63.2% 10 minutes 16.0 2019-01-29 18:50 2019-01-29 19:00 50% – 63.2% 15 minutes 23.0 2019-01-29 18:48 2019-01-29 19:03 20% – 50% 30 minutes 35.0 2019-01-29 18:36 2019-01-29 19:06 20% – 50% 1 hours 60.0 2019-01-29 18:17 2019-01-29 19:17 20% – 50% 2 hours 82.0 2019-01-29 18:00 2019-01-29 20:00 20% – 50% 3 hours 100.0 2019-01-29 18:07 2019-01-29 21:05 10% – 20% 6 hours 123.0 2019-01-29 18:00 2019-01-30 00:00 20% – 50% 12 hours 152.0 2019-01-29 10:48 2019-01-29 22:44 20% – 50% 24 hours 172.0 2019-01-29 04:00 2019-01-30 04:00 20% – 50% 2 days 232.0 2019-01-29 14:00 2019-01-31 14:00 20% – 50% 3 days 276.0 2019-01-28 16:00 2019-01-31 16:00 20% – 50% 4 days 314.0 2019-01-29 06:49 2019-02-02 06:49 20% – 50% 5 days 373.0 2019-01-26 19:00 2019-01-31 19:00 10% – 20% 6 days 414.0 2019-01-27 07:00 2019-02-02 07:00 10% – 20% 7 days 459.0 2019-01-29 14:00 2019-02-05 14:00 10% – 20% Table 63. Koonandah TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Daily and weekly rainfall totals averaged over the catchment for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events. The highest catchment-average daily rainfall total in this event ranked 42 (see Table 64) while the maximum weekly rainfall total in this event ranked 84 (see Table 65).

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 20 January 1970 350.33 1 8 April 1940 297.06 2 17 February 1959 268.52 3 30 January 2019 126.07 42 Table 64. Don significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals). 7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 1 January 1991 704.61 1 11 February 1947 652.3 2 12 December 1990 628.38 4 5 February 2019 371.59 84 Table 65. Don significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

Where the same event resulted in multiple records, other event dates were taken into account and therefore not all ranks are in sequence in the tables above.

6.10.2 River Levels

Moderate flooding was recorded across the Don catchment in response to the initial period of heavy rainfall, with renewed rises and minor flooding occurring several times between 30 January and 8 February 2019 at some locations. Hydrographs of Bowen Pump Station and Mt Dangar are shown in Figure 53 and Figure 54.

Figure 53. Hydrograph of the Don River at Bowen Pump Station

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Figure 54. Hydrograph of the Don River at Mt Dangar

The most significant peak at each river height station in the Don River catchment recorded between 25 January and 18 February 2019 is listed in Table 66. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. Almost all locations observed a moderate flood peak, except Ida Creek which recorded a minor flood peak. The most significant flood peak was recorded at Mt Dangar Alert which recorded its 12th-highest peak in the 29 years of the station's record.

Date and Height Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name of Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Don River

Bowen Pump 30/01/2019 4.30 2.5 4.0 5.5 Moderate =24 49 7.25 Jan 1970 Station Alert 1:52 AM 30/01/2019 Ida Creek TM1 2.59 2.5 4.0 5.5 Minor =69t 61 8.27 Jan 1980 1:00 AM 29/01/2019 Mt Dangar AL 5.35 2.5 4 5.5 Moderate 12t 29 9.4 Feb 2008 11:41 PM 30/01/2019 Reeves TM1 5.16 3 5 7 Moderate 28 39 10.38 Jan 1980 12:40 AM

Table 66. Don River catchment significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.11 Pioneer River Catchment Summary

The Pioneer River basin has a catchment area of about 1500 square kilometres and lies between the headwaters of the Fitzroy and Burdekin rivers. The river flows in an easterly direction from the Clarke Range and Connors Range to the sea. Very high rainfall totals can occur along the ranges and cause very fast stream rises in Blacks and Cattle creeks which feed into the Pioneer River. More information on the Pioneer River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/pioneer/pioneer.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/pioneer/pioneer.pdf

and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/pioneer/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/pioneer/Pioneer_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Pioneer River catchment is outlined in Table 67 below.

Pioneer River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 9 Date of Flood Watch Tuesday 29 January 2019 Issue #7) Date of Initial Flood Warning Flood event 1: Tuesday 29 January 2019 Flood event 2: Tuesday 5 February 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Flood event 1: Wednesday 30 January 2019 Flood event 2: Thursday 7 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Mirani and Mackay Table 67. Summary of Pioneer River flood warning service

6.11.1 Rainfall

The Pioneer catchment experienced several periods of heavy rainfall between 23 January and 8 February 2019, particularly in the upper parts of the catchment. Clarke Range, Eungella and Ridgelands frequently recorded high daily rainfall totals during the event, with the latter recording the highest daily total of 274 mm to 9am on 30 January 2019. The highest event total of 1277 mm was recorded at Eungella AL. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Pioneer catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 68.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Antoneys 0.0 0.0 1.0 7.0 3.0 69 39 87 1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 46 34 32 77 29 428 Crossing AL Bells - - - - - 15 111 27 ------153 Creek AL Plevna AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 16 32 98 152 53 9.0 5.0 10 27 68 44 86 26 627 Ridgelands 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 16 59 146 274 139 40 15 19 64 136 50 109 26 1095 AL Teemburra 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 44 83 201 87 18 8.0 12 38 89 32 91 40 753 Ck TM Teemburra 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 6.0 44 93 158 86 19 7.0 6.0 36 110 33 84 46 729 Dam AL Teemburra 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 - 44 93 159 86 18 7.0 5.0 37 109 33 85 37 714 Dam Hw TM Whiteford's 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 3.0 35 52 76 6.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 64 30 24 50 10 354 TM Whiteford's 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 32 41 66 3.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 55 25 20 48 9 306 AL Hannaville AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 21 44 55 3.0 3.0 1.0 3.0 56 26 32 56 15 316 Sarich's AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 8.0 55 51 90 12 1.0 2.0 2.0 40 61 32 82 21 458 Mt William 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 11 61 161 194 120 28 19 18 30 179 93 151 - 1066 TM Clarke Range 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 15 41 108 145 68 21 14 10 22 176 104 182 165 1073 AL

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Clarke Range 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 16 46 119 156 76 26 17 12 26 191 115 200 186 1188 2 AL Eungella AL 1.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 18 74 194 230 137 35 21 11 32 165 150 148 58 1277 Upper Finch 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 61 116 172 104 21 16 10 19 208 107 142 123 1105 Hatton AL Netherdale 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 13 70 110 184 98 29 20 11 29 135 89 98 48 934 AL Upper Finch 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 60 110 173 102 17 10 11 18 167 72 94 - 844 Hatton TM Senninis Rd 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 59 88 183 83 24 14 7.0 30 115 66 75 44 798 AL Finch Hatton Showgrounds 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 11 62 91 195 94 26 13 8.0 31 113 59 74 53 830 AL Finch Hatton 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 11 55 83 194 92 19 11 5.0 24 108 52 71 57 783 AL Mattie O'Neill 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 51 62 151 57 9.0 3.0 2.0 26 92 29 94 48 630 Br AL Gargett AL 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 10 51 74 124 56 10 3.0 3.0 34 82 26 80 41 595 Dow's 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 62 66 158 62 6.0 1.0 3.0 20 114 32 84 56 669 Creek AL Mirani Weir 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 5.0 68 41 107 23 4.0 2.0 1.0 31 76 26 75 32 492 Tw AL Mirani 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 4.0 71 34 101 22 2.0 4.0 0.0 28 78 22 84 37 488 Township AL Mirani Weir 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 5.0 66 37 100 21 4.0 2.0 1.0 29 70 21 69 26 452 Tw TM Mirani 0.4 - 1.2 0.0 2.0 49 50 113 25 1.6 6.0 0.6 26 73 38 82 34 501.8 Boldon Mirani 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 70 32 94 16 2.0 3.0 3.0 27 70 19 69 33 443 Rd TM Marian Weir 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 78 33 90 20 2.0 2.0 1.0 31 77 23 70 37 468 AL Marian Weir 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 78 32 91 20 1.0 2.0 1.0 31 76 23 71 37 467 TM Greenmount 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 77 25 70 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 35 49 38 64 44 406 AL Marian- 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 12 89 44 94 1.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 38 46 35 73 36 471 Eton Rd TM Walkerston 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 82 29 64 1.0 1.0 0.0 3.0 35 58 35 66 46 426 AL Dumbleton 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 2.0 81 25 50 1.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 24 46 32 58 33 356 Rocks AL Hospital 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 75 15 64 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 31 44 40 51 25 350 Bridge AL Pleystowe 0.4 - - 0.0 3.0 92 27 81 1.0 2.0 0.0 5.0 26 53 43 61 45 439.4 Sugar Mill Mackay AWS 0.0 0.2 0.0 3.8 0.0 55 12 48 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 24 35 28 42 11 259 Paget AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 40 19 37 0.0 3.0 0.0 1.0 40 27 34 64 42 307 Mackay Wind 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 1.2 1.0 1.8 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.0 53 32 90.4 Profiler Mackay Ap 0.6 0.0 0.0 5.6 0.2 47 16 46 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 35 36 31 50 25 293.2 AWS Mackay AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 3.0 56 18 53 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 31 35 41 29 17 286 South Mackay 1.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 2.0 47 17 45 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 34 38 33 53 25 301 (Elamang St) AL South Mackay 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 1.0 58 20 58 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 41 39 40 58 25 345 (Paradise St) AL Farleigh Co- 98 in 2 0.8 - - - 207 in 4 days 1.0 2.0 18 in 3 days - 69 395.8 Op Sugar Mill days Glenella 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 75 17 57 0.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 25 38 35 64 26 341 AL

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gooseponds 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 3.0 69 16 60 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 23 38 34 50 15 309 AL Mt Pleasant (Baxter Dv) 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 1.0 96 16 55 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 23 37 36 60 17 344 AL Golflinks AL 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 104 15 51 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 17 43 30 48 14 328 Mccreadys 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 92 17 65 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 12 55 27 52 17 341 Creek AL Bakers Creek 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 57 38 49 2.0 5.0 0.0 1.0 49 33 34 59 33 365 AL Ooralea (Schmidtke 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 56 18 58 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 52 32 38 49 33 338 Rd) AL Andergrove 1.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 98 16 63 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 23 42 39 57 19 362 AL Mckillop AL 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 112 15 54 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 17 52 34 48 15 352 Black Mountain 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 83 30 94 2.0 1.0 1.0 3.0 15 88 23 68 33 445 (Farleigh) AL Mt Roy TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 70 43 123 39 5.0 1.0 4.0 9 81 23 69 48 525 Mt Jukes 0.0 0.0 - - 9.0 85 75 158 104 5.0 3.0 6.0 12 120 42 111 46 776 Mt Charlton - - - - - 96 95 164 78 18 8.0 29 - 131 97 - - 716 Table 68. Summary of Pioneer Catchment daily rainfalls

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at locations within the Pioneer River catchment during this event. The plot for Eungella Alert, the station with the highest rainfall total for the event, is shown in Figure 55 and Table 69. The AEP for Eungella is most significant for 2- to 7-day durations, but does not exceed the 10% AEP.

Figure 55. Eungella Alert Rainfall Intensity –Frequency–Duration plot

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 1.0 2019-01-27 14:01 2019-01-27 14:02 > 63.2% 2 minutes 1.0 2019-01-26 23:44 2019-01-26 23:45 > 63.2% 3 minutes 2.0 2019-01-27 13:11 2019-01-27 13:13 > 63.2% 4 minutes 3.0 2019-01-29 06:52 2019-01-29 06:56 > 63.2% 5 minutes 4.0 2019-01-29 06:52 2019-01-29 06:57 > 63.2% 10 minutes 8.0 2019-01-29 16:29 2019-01-29 16:38 > 63.2% 15 minutes 11.0 2019-01-29 16:30 2019-01-29 16:44 > 63.2% 30 minutes 18.0 2019-01-30 00:32 2019-01-30 01:02 > 63.2% 1 hours 29.0 2019-01-30 00:26 2019-01-30 01:25 > 63.2% 2 hours 42.0 2019-02-04 17:17 2019-02-04 19:17 > 63.2% 3 hours 59.0 2019-01-29 14:03 2019-01-29 17:02 50% – 63.2% 6 hours 91.0 2019-01-29 11:36 2019-01-29 17:34 50% – 63.2% 12 hours 151.0 2019-01-29 13:56 2019-01-30 01:54 20% – 50% 24 hours 265.0 2019-01-29 03:24 2019-01-30 03:19 20% – 50% 2 days 465.0 2019-01-28 16:41 2019-01-30 16:38 10% – 20% 3 days 581.0 2019-01-27 18:25 2019-01-30 18:25 10% – 20% 4 days 638.0 2019-01-27 08:16 2019-01-31 08:01 10% – 20% 5 days 677.0 2019-01-26 21:53 2019-01-31 21:52 10% – 20% 6 days 704.0 2019-01-26 21:53 2019-02-01 21:52 10% – 20% 7 days 715.0 2019-01-26 21:53 2019-02-02 21:52 10% – 20% Table 69. Eungella Alert Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

Daily and weekly rainfall totals averaged over the catchment for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events. The maximum catchment-average daily rainfall total in this event ranked 199 (see Table 70), while the maximum weekly rainfall total in this event ranked 628 (see Table 71).

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 18 February 1958 415.33 1 19 January 1970 408.71 2 29 March 2017 281.07 7 30 January 2019 98.59 199 Table 70. Pioneer significant catchment averaged rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 2 January 1991 1169.53 1 31 December 1990 1087.98 5 22 February 1958 1063.68 8 2 February 2019 256.30 628 Table 71. Pioneer significant catchment averaged rainfall observations (weekly totals)

Where the same event resulted in multiple records, other event dates were taken into account and therefore not all ranks are in sequence in the tables above.

6.11.2 River Levels

Minor flooding was recorded across the upper Pioneer catchment during the event, while river levels in the lower catchment remained below the minor flood level. Minor flood levels were recorded at (from upstream to downstream); Whiteford's, Sarich's, Gargett, Mirani Weir, and Dumbleton Rocks. No

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

readings were available at the Mirani manual river station but based on the data at a nearby station it is expected that river levels reached the minor flood level. Finch Hatton, on Cattle Creek in the upper parts of the catchment, was the only location that recorded moderate flooding. Further downstream, Hospital Bridge and Mackay did not record any significant river level rises. Hydrographs for Finch Hatton and Mirani Weir are shown in Figure 56 and Figure 57.

Figure 56. Hydrograph of the Pioneer River at Finch Hatton

Figure 57. Hydrograph of the Pioneer River at Mirani Weir The most significant peak at river height stations in the Pioneer River catchment recorded between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 68. The historical significance of each peak is also provided.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Date and Height Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name of Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Pioneer River

Dumbleton 06/02/2019 17.53 17.3 20 21 Minor 29 31 21.20 Mar 2017 Rocks1 10:00 PM 30/01/2019 Finch Hatton2 4.01 3 4 5 Moderate =27 49 6.5 1989 4:13 AM 30/01/2019 Gargett1 5.68 5.5 8 9 Minor 59 51 10.7 Apr 1989 06:00 AM Hospital Bridge 20/02/2019 Below Jan 1918 & 6.95 7 10.5 11.5 21 101 11.84 AL 12:50 PM Minor Jan 1970 06/02/2019 Mirani Weir TW1 7.61 7 9 10 Minor 46 41 15.52 Apr 1989 8:15 PM

Mirani No data provided 6 8 9 N/A - 135 16.46 Feb 1958

29/01/2019 Sarich's1 7.43 6.5 8 9.5 Minor 66 61 14.78 Jan 1970 10:00 PM 29/01/2019 Whiteford's1 5.05 5 6.5 7.5 Minor 55 46 11.25 Mar 1988 8:50 PM

Table 72. Pioneer River significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.12 Connors–Isaac (Fitzroy) Catchment Summary

Due to its immense size and fan-like shape, the Fitzroy River Basin is capable of producing major flooding following heavy rainfall events. Its major tributaries, the Dawson, Mackenzie and Connors rivers rise in the eastern coastal ranges and in the Great Dividing Range and join about 100 kilometres west of Rockhampton. More information on the Connors–Isaac rivers catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/fitzroy/fitzroy.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/fitzroy/fitzroy.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/fitzroy/map_connors.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/fitzroy/Fitzroy_FitzMackIsaac_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Connors–Isaac river catchment is summarised in Table 73.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Connors/Isaac flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 17 Date of Flood Watch - Date of Initial Flood Warning Wednesday 30th January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Tuesday 12th February 2019 Forecast locations affected Yatton Table 73. Summary of Connors–Isaac River flood warning service.

6.12.1 Rainfall

The Connors–Isaac catchment did not experience the significant heavy rainfall that affected other catchments. The highest daily total of 76 mm was recorded in the upper reaches of the catchment at Undercliff TM on 6 February 2019. The highest event total of 347 mm was also recorded at Undercliff TM. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Connors–Isaac rivers catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 74.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mt Ewan TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 23 40 17 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 17 3.0 3.0 0.0 114 Moranbah 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 11 9.0 3.2 0.4 0.0 0.2 8.2 3.2 3.0 6.0 1.2 45.8 Airport AWS Isaac River ------6.5 1.0 7.5 Bridge TM Mt Spencer 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16 42 36 2.0 3.0 0.0 2.0 43 27 20 50 10 251 TM Deverill TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 11 4.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 8.0 1.0 6.0 18 0.0 52 Dysart AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 12 1.8 0.0 0.4 0.0 1.4 0.4 1.0 0.8 17 2.0 37 Carfax ------16 - - 2.0 - - 2.0 3.0 4.0 14 - 41 Fitzroy Devel- opmental Rd ------16 1.0 17 Br TM Undercliff TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 19 61 33 11 1.0 4.0 4.0 37 19 76 72 - 347 Mt Bridget 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 55 2.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 8.0 4.0 2.0 40 19 4.0 138 TM Prospect ------71 21 92 Creek TM Funnel Creek 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 33 22 2.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 34 5.0 9.0 29 1.0 139 TM Braeside TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 21 18 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 27 6.0 11 32 0.0 121 Nebo TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 18 14 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 30 6.0 6.0 29 1.0 111 Nebo Bore 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 20 15 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 31 6.0 10 34 0.0 121 TM Cockenzie 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 10 1.0 12 23 3.0 56 TM Bee Creek ------33 3.0 36 TM Pink Lagoon 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 32 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 0.0 1.0 9.0 13 3.0 66 TM Pink Lagoon 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6 31 0.8 0.0 0.2 1.2 3.6 0.6 1.2 8.4 13 2.4 65 AL St Lawrence 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 2.6 5.6 4.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 16 2.0 1.4 8.8 11 1.4 53.8 AWS Yatton TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 10 1.0 19 Yatton AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 0.0 15 1.0 28 Mt Joss AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 2.0 2.0 7.0 7.0 1.0 33 Table 74. Summary of Connors–Isaac Catchment daily rainfalls

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at some locations within the Connors– Isaac rivers catchment during this event. The plot for Undercliff TM, which had the highest rainfall total for the event is shown below in Figure 58 and Table 75.

Figure 58. Undercliff Rainfall Intensity –Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 2019-02-06 13:29 2019-02-06 13:30 > 63.2% 2 minutes 3.0 2019-02-06 13:28 2019-02-06 13:30 > 63.2% 3 minutes 3.0 2019-01-27 10:36 2019-01-27 10:39 > 63.2% 4 minutes 4.0 2019-02-06 13:26 2019-02-06 13:30 > 63.2% 5 minutes 4.0 2019-02-06 13:29 2019-02-06 13:34 > 63.2% 10 minutes 8.0 2019-02-06 13:28 2019-02-06 13:38 > 63.2% 15 minutes 11.0 2019-02-06 13:26 2019-02-06 13:41 > 63.2% 30 minutes 16.0 2019-02-06 13:20 2019-02-06 13:49 > 63.2% 1 hours 22.0 2019-02-06 12:47 2019-02-06 13:46 > 63.2% 2 hours 32.0 2019-02-06 12:50 2019-02-06 14:50 > 63.2% 3 hours 41.0 2019-02-06 12:06 2019-02-06 15:04 > 63.2% 6 hours 61.0 2019-02-06 09:29 2019-02-06 15:29 > 63.2% 12 hours 79.0 2019-02-06 03:00 2019-02-06 15:00 > 63.2% 24 hours 131.0 2019-02-05 17:35 2019-02-06 17:32 50% – 63.2% 2 days 161.0 2019-02-04 19:00 2019-02-06 19:00 50% – 63.2% 3 days 196.0 2019-02-03 16:00 2019-02-06 16:00 50% – 63.2% 4 days 208.0 2019-02-02 19:00 2019-02-06 19:00 50% – 63.2%

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 5 days 212.0 2019-02-01 19:00 2019-02-06 19:00 50% – 63.2% 6 days 212.0 2019-01-31 19:00 2019-02-06 19:00 50% – 63.2% 7 days 222.0 2019-01-30 19:00 2019-02-06 19:00 50% – 63.2% Table 75. Undercliff TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

Shown below are the tables generated for the Connors–Isaac river catchment compared to other significant historical events. Catchment averaged daily rainfall totals and catchment averaged consecutive weekly rainfall totals for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events as shown below in Table 76 and Table 77.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 28 December 1916 182.20 1 25 January 2013 172.46 2 3 March 1988 157.70 3 29 January 2019 149.71 806 Table 76. Connors-Isaac significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 1 January 1991 460.58 1 31 December 1990 455.24 3 27 January 1918 421.29 6 8 February 2019 54.36 2646 Table 77. Connors-Isaac significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

Where the same event resulted in multiple records, other event dates were taken into account and therefore not all ranks are in sequence in the tables above.

6.12.2 River Levels

Hydrographs for key locations within the Connors–Isaac river catchment from 26 January to 16 February 2019 are shown in Figure 59 to Figure 61. Moderate to major flooding was recorded in the Connors–Isaac river catchment during this period. Two peaks moved through the catchment during the event with the second peak higher than the first.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Figure 59. Hydrograph of the Isaac River at Yatton

Figure 60. Hydrograph of Funnel Creek at the TM station.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Figure 62. Hydrograph of the Connors River at Pink Lagoon

Figure 61. Hydrograph of the Connors River at Mt Bridget

The most significant peaks at river height stations in the Connors–Isaac rivers catchment between 26 January and 16 February 2019 are listed in Table 78 below.

The historical significance of each peak is also provided. No peaks during this event ranked in the top ten when compared to historical peaks, with all peaks ranked 30 or lower.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Date and Height Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name of Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak 10/02/2019 Yatton1 13.25 7.5 9.5 16.5 Moderate 49th 56 19.675 Mar 2017 7:00 AM 07/02/2019 Mt Bridget TM 10.97 9 10.5 15.5 Moderate 43rd 52 20.18 Mar 1988 12:00 AM 6/02/2019 Below Braeside TM 6.35 7 9 11 41st 48 11.574 Mar 2017 11:00 PM Minor 7/02/2019 Funnel Creek 9.12 7 8 9 Major 30th 51 14.59 Dec 1990 12:00 PM 8/02/2019 Pink Lagoon 12.25 6.5 9 14.5 Moderate 52nd 52 16.43 Mar 1988 1:00 PM

Table 78. Connors-Isaac significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.13 Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper Catchment Summary

The Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper Basin drains an area of approximately 237,000 square kilometres and is the largest river basin in Queensland. The catchment falls within the larger Lake Eyre Basin, the largest and only internal drainage system in Australia.

The two main tributaries, the Thomson and Barcoo rivers, merge into the Cooper Creek approximately 40 kilometres upstream of Windorah. The Thomson River and its tributaries flow in a general southerly direction and pass through several of the larger towns within the region including Longreach and Muttaburra. The Barcoo River flows in a general westerly direction and has major centres such as Isisford, Blackall, Barcaldine, Jericho and Tambo in its catchment. The Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper basin can be divided into two distinct areas:

• Above Windorah, numerous well-defined creeks and channels flow into the Thomson and Barcoo rivers.

• Below Windorah, the typical wide-ranging channel country develops.

More information on the Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper Basin is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/cooper/cooper.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/cooper/cooper.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/bulloo/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/bulloo/CooperBulloo_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper basin is summarised in Table 79.

North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report

Thomson/Barcoo/Cooper flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 24 Date of Flood Watch n/a Date of Initial Flood Warning Friday 01 February 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Monday 25 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Camoola Park, Longreach, Stonehenge, Jundah, Blackall, Isisford, Retreat and Windorah Table 79. Summary of Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper Rivers flood warning services

6.13.1 Rainfall

There were several periods of moderate to heavy rainfall recorded over the Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper basin during this event. Some of the most significant rainfall totals were recorded in the very top of the catchment on 30 and 31 January 2019 with 70 mm recorded at Tiree over the two days. Other significant totals were recorded in the middle of the catchment on 31 January and 1 February 2019 with 70 mm, 111 mm and 59 mm recorded over the two days at Stonehenge, Navarra and Sunbury, respectively. Navarra recorded both the most rainfall within the Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper basin during this event with an event total of 137.6 mm and the highest daily total of 66 mm on the 1 February. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper basin between 23 January and 8 February 2019 from each station are listed in Table 80 below.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gue ------1.8 3.2 11 1.0 3.0 7 14 10 5.0 9.0 65 Eversleigh ------5.5 5.0 3.0 25 - - - 38.5 Woodbine - - - - - 4.0 - 17 ------21 Tiree ------6.0 20 50 4.0 8.0 1.8 12 18 1.0 5.8 0.5 127.1 Jochmus ------22 10 - - 12 11 5.0 - - 60 Marengo ------4.8 7.8 22 - 7.2 3.4 10 7.8 20 2.0 - 85 Bowen 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 15 1.0 3.0 0.0 6.0 9.0 13 0.0 - 51 Downs TM * Lerida Qld ------4.0 0.2 9.0 - - - - 13.2 Muttaburra ------12 1.5 8.5 1.0 8.0 12 21 1.5 4.5 70 Aramac ------2.0 3.0 18 1.0 6.5 - - 30.5 Longreach 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 17 0.0 10 1.0 7.0 2.0 55 9.0 0.0 102 TM * Longreach 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 14 1.8 8.8 - 3.0 - 59 6.0 0.8 94.2 AWS * Bogewong ------44 1.0 45 TM * Vergemont ------30 0.0 30 Creek TM * Stonehenge 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 47 23 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 9.0 40 0.0 123 TM * Tambo 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2 Airport TM * Tambo AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 6 Tambo SYN 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Tr 0.8 4.4 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.4 0.0 8 Wyanga AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 9.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 11 Mount Macquarie AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 6.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 14 * Myall Grove 0.0 0.0 8.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 17 AL *

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gillespie ------5.0 - 5 Tarabah TM * 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 10 Blackall AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 4.5 3.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 12 0.0 24.5 Blackall TM * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 10 0.0 21 Blackall Ap 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6 4.8 3.8 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 2.8 12 0.0 27.2 AWS * Ravensbourne 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 7.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 11 Rd AL * Cootabinya 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 11 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 13 AL * Mt Calder AL * 0.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 7.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 26 Barney's Bore 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 5.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 0.0 17 AL * Allandale AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 8 Mt Harden AL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 8.0 7.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 27 * Glencoe AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 2.5 5.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 0.0 12 Jericho AL * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 11 Lochnagar ------1.4 - 5.2 2.0 3.0 - 6.6 - 3.8 6.6 - 28.6 Barcaldine 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 over 4 days 1.2 6.2 4.0 11 over 3 days 2.4 17 9.2 2.0 55.5 SYN Barcaldine 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 20 7.0 0.0 41 Weir TM * Isisford 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Tr 3.8 9.4 6.0 1.1 0.0 0.2 Tr 4.8 30 0.0 55.3 Wahroongha ------3.0 16 12 - - - - 7.2 20 - 58.2 Navarra ------4.0 45 66 0.6 - - - 4.0 18 - 137.6 Sunbury ------7.0 27 32 - - - 1.0 4.0 24 - 95 {Yaraka} Retreat TM * 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 12 0.0 0.0 1.0 3.0 0.0 22 Windorah (Lon g Crossing) ------3.0 0.0 3 TM * Trinidad ------2.0 - - - 2.0 2.5 - 6.5 Moothandella ------3.4 ------3.4 Station Eromanga ------5.0 7.4 ------12.4 Woomanooka ------30 0.0 ------30 Ballera Gas 0.0 0.0 0.0 - - 0.0 0.0 0.0 15 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 15 Field AWS * Table 80. Summary of Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper Catchment daily rainfalls.

Analysis of the IFD plots was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at stations within the Thomson– Barcoo–Cooper catchment during this event. As most relevant rain gauges are daily gauges, IFD analysis was only undertaken for 24-hour periods and greater. Generally, the rainfall recorded at the 24-hour period were less significant than those of multiple days. However, across the catchment the AEP was generally high for all periods. The IFD analysis for Navarra is presented in Figure 63 and Table 81 and shows the lowest AEPs of 20-50% occurred for 2- to 7-day durations.

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Figure 63. Navarra Rainfall Intensity –Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 24 hours 66.2 31/01/2019 9:00 1/02/2019 9:00 50% – 63.2% 2 days 111.2 30/01/2019 9:00 1/02/2019 9:00 20% – 50% 3 days 115.2 29/01/2019 9:00 1/02/2019 9:00 20% – 50% 4 days 115.8 29/01/2019 9:00 2/02/2019 9:00 20% – 50% 5 days 115.8 28/01/2019 9:00 2/02/2019 9:00 20% – 50% 6 days 115.8 27/01/2019 9:00 2/02/2019 9:00 20% – 50% 7 days 115.8 26/01/2019 9:00 2/02/2019 9:00 20% – 50%

Table 81. Navarra Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

Daily and weekly rainfall totals averaged over the catchment for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events as shown below in Table 82 and Table 83.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 20 February 1977 41.44 1 21 May 1981 38.65 2 29 January 1974 38.61 3 31 January 2019 16.23 246 Table 82. Thomson-Cooper significant catchment averaged rainfall observations (daily totals)

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7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 30 January 1974 135.24 1 31 January 1974 132.11 2 1 February 1974 131.99 3 06 February 2019 46.38 780 Table 83. Thomson-Cooper significant catchment averaged rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.13.2 River Levels

Hydrographs for the key locations within the Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper basin from 30 January to 24 February 2019 are shown in Figure 64 to Figure 70. The plots show an early peak travelling down the lower Barcoo through Glenlock (Figure 69) and later a second larger flood peak generated in the middle of the Thomson River moving downstream (Figure 65).

Both flood peaks are observed several days apart at Windorah on Cooper Creek (Figure 70) which is located downstream from the confluence of the Barcoo and Thomson rivers. Minor flooding at Camoola Park in mid-February (Figure 64) did not result in further flooding downstream.

Figure 64.Hydrograph of the Thomson River at Camoola Park

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Figure 65. Hydrograph of the Thomson River at Longreach TM

Figure 66. Hydrograph of the Thomson River at Bogewong TM.

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Figure 67. Hydrograph of the Thomson River at Stonehenge TM

Figure 68. Hydrograph of the Thomson River at Jundah

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Figure 69. Hydrograph of the Barcoo River at Glenlock

Figure 70. Hydrograph of the Cooper Creek at Windorah

The most significant peak at river height stations in the Thomson–Barcoo–Cooper basin recorded between 30 January and 23 February 2019 are listed in Table 84. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. No peaks during this event ranked in the top ten when compared to historical peaks, with all peaks ranked lower than 40.

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Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Thomson River

No significant peak Muttaburra 3 5 7 Minor 66 68 8.48 March 1955 recorded. No significant peak February Camoola Park 2 4 6.7 Minor N/A 65 7.42 recorded. 2000 18/02/2019 Below January Longreach 2.68 3.3 4.3 5.3 +100 125 7.32 08:00 AM minor 1974 11/02/2019 Jundah 4.31 2.5 4 5 Moderate 76 75 8.46 June 1955 06:55 PM 10/02/2019 January Bogewong 3.65 2 4 6 Minor 85 64 8.64 19:00 1974 09/02/2019 January Stonehenge TM 4.44 3 4 6.5 Moderate 43 51 8.2 22:00 1974

Barcoo River

No significant peak Below Blackall TM 2.9 4.9 5.9 N/A 49 8.24 April 1990 recorded. Minor No significant peak Below Glenlock 2 2.5 3 N/A 48 5.17 April 1990 recorded. Minor No significant peak Below January Retreat TM 3.5 4.5 5.5 N/A 14 11.05 recorded. Minor 2008

Cooper Creek

Windorah (Long 14/02/2019 February 4.47 3 4 5 Moderate 83 49 8.48 Crossing) 10:00 PM 1974 No significant peak Below Nappa Merrie 3 6 9 N/A 15 8.33 March 2010 recorded. Minor

Table 84. Significant peak heights recorded in the Thomson-Barcoo-Cooper catchment between 30 January

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.14 Diamantina Catchment Summary

The Diamantina River basin is located in southwest Queensland and covers an area of approximately 119,000 square kilometres and forms a part of the larger Lake Eyre Basin. The river rises in the Swords Range, 70 kilometres southwest of Kynuna and flows initially in a north and then easterly direction before changing to a southwesterly direction 70 kilometres west of Winton. Major tributaries joining the river are the Western and Mayne rivers above Diamantina Lakes and Farrars Creek below Monkira. The river does not have a well-defined main channel but consists generally of a series of wide, relatively shallow channels. The river passes through the town of Birdsville before crossing the Queensland–South Australia border 10 kilometres south of Birdsville.

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After crossing into South Australia, the Diamantina River and Eyre Creek join to form the Warburton River which eventually drains into Lake Eyre (the lowest point on the Australia mainland, about 15 metres below sea level).

More information on the Diamantina basin is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/diamantina/diamantina.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/diamantina/diamantina.pdf

and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/diamantina/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/diamantina/Diamantina_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Diamantina basin is summarised in Table 85 below.

Diamantina River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 39 Date of Flood Watch n/a Date of Initial Flood Warning Thursday 31 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Tuesday 19 March 2019 Forecast locations affected Winton, Birdsville Table 85. Summary of Diamantina River flood warning service

6.14.1 Rainfall

Very heavy rainfall was recorded in the Diamantina River basin on multiple days during this event, with two periods of significant rainfall totals;

• The first between 31 January and 2 February 2019, with the heaviest rain focussed around Elderslie in the upper central parts of the catchment.

• The second between 5 February and 7 February 2019, with the heaviest rain again focussed over the upper parts of the catchment but also further to the east around and to the north of Winton.

Wyora (north of Winton) recorded both the highest total rainfall (374.3 mm) within the Diamantina River basin and the highest daily rainfall of 107 mm to 9am on 6 February 2019. Many stations within the catchment recorded event rainfall totals greater than 200 mm. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Diamantina River basin from 23 January to 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 86.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Alni ------8.0 22 100 93 9.4 1.2 1.8 16 52 22 - 325.4 Mahrigong - - - 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.5 36 28 10 6.0 1.0 7.0 16 66 28 5.0 206.5 Oondooroo 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 20 13 6.0 9.0 0.0 9.0 37 61 57 14 233 TM * Bladensburg ------2.2 41 - - 11 1.4 5.0 22 45 47 - 174.6

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Winton Ap 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.8 26 19 9.6 13 0.8 9.8 32 59 44 1.8 219.8 AWS * Belmont ------9.4 1.2 7.2 23 - - - 40.8 Wyora ------28 40 9.1 50 16 1.2 7.0 30 107 86 - 374.3 Tulmur ------15 85 70 10 0.0 6.0 32 67 - - 285 Mundurin ------6.0 0.2 6.0 9.5 - - - 21.7 Station Mackunda ------15 8.2 42 65 44 8.6 9.8 47 50 1.2 8.2 299 Downs Diamantina 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 28 8.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 5.0 - 47 Lakes TM * Davenport ------6.6 14 0.6 - - - - 21.2 Downs Birdsville Ap 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 AWS * Table 86. Summary of Diamantina Catchment daily rainfalls

Analysis of the IFD plots was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at locations within the Diamantina River basin during this event. As most relevant rain gauges are daily gauges, IFD analysis was only undertaken for 24-hour periods and greater. Across the basin, the rainfall recorded at the shorter duration of 24 hours was less significant than those of multiple days. The seven-day period was the most significant at most locations. The station with the most significant IFD analysis (Alni) has been provided in Figure 71 and Table 87 shows the lowest AEP for this station during the event was for the 7-day duration (2%-5%).

Figure 71. Alni Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

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Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 24 hours 99.6 30/01/2019 9:00 31/01/2019 9:00 20% – 50% 2 days 192.8 30/01/2019 9:00 1/02/2019 9:00 5% – 10% 3 days 214.4 29/01/2019 9:00 1/02/2019 9:00 5% – 10% 4 days 223.8 29/01/2019 9:00 2/02/2019 9:00 5% – 10% 5 days 231.8 28/01/2019 9:00 2/02/2019 9:00 5% – 10% 6 days 233.0 28/01/2019 9:00 3/02/2019 9:00 5% – 10% 7 days 272.8 30/01/2019 9:00 6/02/2019 9:00 2% – 5%

Table 87. Alni Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

Daily and weekly rainfall totals averaged across the catchment for this flood event were not overly significant when compared with other historical rainfall events, although both were ranked in the top 35. The relatively low ranking for catchment-wide rainfall is likely the reflection of the rainfall distribution during this event; where heavy rainfall was recorded over the upper catchment, but notably less in the middle and lower catchment. Diamantina Lakes in the middle of the catchment recorded just under 50 mm during the event, whilst Birdsville in the lower reaches recorded just 0.4mm, both of which contrast strongly with the highest rainfall of close to 400 mm north of Winton in the upper catchment. The highest catchment-average daily rainfall total in this event ranked 28 (Table 88), while the maximum weekly rainfall total in this event ranked 33 (Table 89).

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 19 January 1995 47.55 1 30 January 1974 45.66 2 1 March 2010 44.96 3 31 January 2019 29.74 28 Table 88. Diamantina significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 31 January 1974 158.3 1 30 January 1974 154.37 2 1 February 1974 150.27 3 06 February 2019 102.14 33 Table 89. Diamantina significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.14.2 River Levels

Hydrographs for the key locations within the Diamantina River catchment from late January to mid- March are shown in Figure 72 to Figure 79. The plots show a significant flood event in the Diamantina River with major flooding observed at all key locations across the catchment taking many weeks to travel from the top of the catchment to Birdsville near the South Australian border.

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Figure 72. Hydrograph of the Western River at Oondooroo TM

Figure 73. Hydrograph of the Western River at Winton.

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Figure 74. Hydrograph of the Diamantina River at Elderslie

Figure 75. Hydrograph of the Diamantina River at Diamantina Lakes TM

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Figure 76. Hydrograph of the Diamantina River at Monkira

Figure 77. Hydrograph of the Diamantina River at Durrie Station

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Figure 78. Hydrograph of the Diamantina River at Rosberth Station

Figure 79. Hydrograph of the Diamantina River at Birdsville Police Station The most significant peak at each river height station in the Diamantina River catchment recorded between 29 January and 22 March 2019 is listed in Table 90. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. This flood event was significant in the Diamantina River catchment with flood peaks at all key locations ranked in the top 10 of historical peaks. New records were recorded at Oondooroo TM (12 years of record) and Elderslie (19 years of record). Diamantina Lakes and Monkira recorded

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the second and third highest peaks on record, respectively, both being the highest levels seen since 1974.

Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Diamantina River

07/02/2019 Oondooroo TM 6.28 4.2 5.2 6.2 Major 1 12 New Record 12:20 PM 07/02/2019 Winton 3.55 1.5 2 3.5 Major 6 69 5.01 May 1955 10:30 PM 06/02/2019 Elderslie 5.2 1.5 2.5 3 Major 1 19 New Record 03:00 PM 6.6*

*may 06/02/2019 Tulmur 5 7 8 Minor* 8 82 9.75 1974 not have 9:00 AM captured peak Diamantina 10/02/2019 January 7.68 2 4 6 Major 2 52 7.71 Lakes TM 02:00 PM 1974 14/02/2019 February Monkira 5.42 2.9 4 4.5 Major 3 70 6.12 12:00 PM 1974 20/02/2019 February Durrie Station 3.8 1.5 2 2.4 Major 4 45 5.3 12:00 PM 1974 Roseberth 22/02/2019 February 6.48 4.5 4.9 5.2 Major 3 48 7.6 Station 07:50 AM 1974 Birdsville Police 22/02/2019 February 8.15 4 6 8 Major 7 70 9.45 station 09:00 AM 1974

Table 90. Significant peak heights recorded in the Diamantina catchment between 25 January and 13 February

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.15 Georgina–Eyre

The Georgina River and Eyre Creek Basin drains an area of approximately 210,000 sq km. It rises to the northwest of Mt Isa with three main tributaries: the Buckle, Sander and Ranken Rivers. The latter two have their headwaters in the Northern Territory. Further inflow enters the system from numerous creeks and rivers, the two main tributaries being the Burke and Hamilton rivers. The Burke River drains the area to the north of Boulia and enters the Georgina River about 20 km upstream of Marion Downs, whilst the Hamilton River rises to the northeast of Boulia and enters the main Georgina River below Marion Downs. Towns located within the catchment include Urandangie, Dajarra, Boulia and Bedourie.

During flood events, the main Georgina River channel fills quickly and then spreads out into the neighbouring channels and watercourses for kilometres on either side, estimated to be 25 to 30 km wide in the lower river reaches. The main impact of flooding is the isolation of towns and properties and the

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extensive inundation of grazing lands which can last several months in some areas. Road transport disruption for a long period is common during large-scale flooding.

More information on the Georgina River and Eyre Creek Basin is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/georgina/georgina.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/georgina/georgina.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/georgina/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/georgina/Georgina_map.pdf

A complete breakdown of the flood warning services provided to the Georgina River and Eyre Creek Basin is outlined in Table 103 below.

Georgina flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 27 Date of Flood Watch Wednesday 23 January 2019 (issue number 11) Date of Initial Flood Warning Friday 01 February 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Friday 08 March 2019 Forecast locations affected Georgina River: Marion Downs Eyre Creek: Bedourie, Glengyle Table 91. Summary of Georgina River and Eyre Creek flood warning service

6.15.1 Rainfall

The arid inland area covered by the Georgina River and Eyre Creek catchments has a very sparse rainfall network. During this event the Georgina River catchment had an initial period of widespread rainfall on 26 January 2019, which was then followed by a period of 10 consecutive days of rainfall between 29 January and 7 February 2019. The heaviest rainfall during the latter period was focussed over the northeast corner of the catchment across the headwaters of the Burke River and Hamilton River, and also across the headwaters of numerous creeks near the Mt Isa and Cloncurry area. The highest daily total of 130 mm was recorded to 9am on 2 February 2019 at May Downs, situated to the northwest of Mt Isa. The highest event total of 449 mm was recorded at Trepell Airport, situated in the headwaters of the Hamilton River. A full breakdown of daily rainfalls from each station is provided in Table 104 below. Note: all of these stations are located within Queensland as very little rainfall information is available from the Northern Territory portion of the catchment area.

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Rainfall recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station January February Total Name 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 May Downs 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.8 0.2 0.0 0.2 2.2 7.0 30 130 52 40 4.8 3.8 0.2 0.0 278.2 AWS Mairindi 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 - 21 33 12 7.0 32 4.0 0.0 - 119 Creek TM Urandangi Aerodrome 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.2 19 9.0 9.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 49 AWS Roxborough 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 12 6.0 4.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 23 Downs TM Carters Bore 0.0 0.0 0.0 29 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 27 13 37 19 21 15 6.2 0.2 0.0 167.8 AWS Glenormiston - - - 2.5 - - - - - 33 7.4 15 - - - - - 57.9 The Monument Ap 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 - - 20 69 21 31 39 5.2 - - 188.8 AWS Alderley Station - - - 2.0 - - - - 4.0 48 17 7.5 - - - - - 78.5 {Dajarra} Boulia TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 42 11 2.0 5 2.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 66 Boulia SYN 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Tr 1.2 42 12 1.4 4.8 2.4 Tr 3.0 - 66.8 Marion ------1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 - 1 Downs Trepell Ap 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 33 8.6 107 45 104 11 24 47 49 11 7.4 449 AWS Bedourie 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 11 1.0 - 0.0 0.0 - 15.2 30.4 Table 92. Summary of Georgina River and Eyre Creek Catchment daily rainfalls

The IFD plot and table shown below (Figure 80 and Table 93) for Trepell Airport AWS indicates that for 1-7 day durations, the rainfall had less than a 10% AEP, and that for 4-7 day durations, the rainfall had less than a 1% AEP.

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Figure 80. Trepell Airport Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 5 minutes 9.0 01/02/2019 15:41 01/02/2019 15:46 20% – 50% 10 minutes 14.6 01/02/2019 15:37 01/02/2019 15:47 20% – 50% 15 minutes 20.6 01/02/2019 15:38 01/02/2019 15:53 20% – 50% 30 minutes 29.0 01/02/2019 15:32 01/02/2019 16:02 20% – 50% 1 hour 37.2 01/02/2019 15:39 01/02/2019 16:39 20% – 50% 2 hours 56.0 01/02/2019 15:00 01/02/2019 17:00 10% – 20% 3 hours 58.8 01/02/2019 15:03 01/02/2019 18:03 10% – 20% 6 hours 80.4 01/02/2019 15:00 01/02/2019 21:00 10% – 20% 12 hours 96.0 01/02/2019 09:33 01/02/2019 21:29 10% – 20% 24 hours 120.8 31/01/2019 20:31 01/02/2019 20:31 5% – 10% 2 days 197.6 30/01/2019 16:42 01/02/2019 16:42 2% – 5% 3 days 259.2 30/01/2019 12:47 02/02/2019 12:47 1% – 2% 4 days 290.6 28/01/2019 22:15 01/02/2019 22:11 < 1% 5 days 308.6 28/01/2019 21:34 02/02/2019 21:33 < 1% 6 days 359.4 30/01/2019 13:42 05/02/2019 13:38 < 1% 7 days 393.2 30/01/2019 12:47 06/02/2019 12:16 < 1% Table 93. Trepell Airport AWS Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration analysis

Daily and weekly rainfall totals averaged across the catchment for this flood event were not significant when compared with other historical rainfall events as shown below in Table 94 and Table 95.

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Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 01 March 2010 56.67 1 19 February 1977 46.92 5 09 January 1957 44.83 8 08 February 1991 35.54 23 21 January 2007 35.25 24 05 February 2011 32.11 33 22 January 1974 28.75 50 04 January 2009 27.13 64 02 February 2019 20.97 142 05 March 1997 20.71 148 Table 94. Georgina significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 23 February 1977 172.28 1 01 March 2010 169.41 2 26 January 1974 135.34 12 10 February 1991 129.96 23 22 January 2007 126.25 30 08 January 2009 113.39 50 11 March 2011 104.84 67 10 January 1957 77.19 207 06 February 2019 71.41 264 06 March 1997 69.39 303 Table 95. Georgina significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.15.2 River Levels

The flood event recorded during late January and early February 2019 in the Georgina River and Eyre Creek catchments was not a particularly historically significant event, with moderate flood levels recorded at the majority of gauging stations. Each of the following hydrographs show the initial flood peak followed by a slowly unfolding and protracted flood event that lasted until March 2019. The river level at Boulia reached the minor flood level on 7 February 2019, as shown in Figure 81

River levels at Roxborough Downs on the Georgina River remained below the minor flood level during this flood event, as shown in Figure 82

Further downstream on the Georgina River, and below the junction with the Burke River from the Boulia area, the manual forecast location at Marion Downs (Figure 83 below) recorded river levels above the minor flood level for seven days (5 to 12 February), with a moderate flood peak recorded on 10 February 2019.

As the floodwater from the Burke and Georgina Rivers extended downstream, levels in Eyre Creek rose with hydrographs for the two forecast locations at Bedourie and Glengyle provided in Figure 84 and Figure 85 below.

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Figure 81. Hydrograph of the Burke River at Boulia

Figure 82. Hydrograph of the Georgina River at Roxborough Downs

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Figure 83. Hydrograph of the Georgina River at Marion Downs

Figure 84. Hydrograph of the Eyre Creek at Bedourie

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Figure 85. Hydrograph of the Eyre Creek at Glengyle

The most significant peak at river height stations in the Georgina–Eyre Basin recorded between 30 January and 23 February 2019 are listed in Table 96. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. No peaks during this event ranked in the top ten when compared to historical peaks, with all peaks ranked lower than 16.

Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Georgina River

Urandangie 11/02/2019 2.00 1 5 7 Minor 84 42 7.45 1974 Manual 12:00 PM Roxborough 16/02/2019 Below 4.16 4.5 6 8 N/A 51 9.93 Feb 1977 Downs TM 10:00 AM Minor Glenormiston No significant peak Below 3 4 6 N/A 118 8.89 Jan 1974 Manual recorded Minor Boulia 07/02/2019 4.04 4 5 6 Minor 35 52 5.96 Feb 1974 TM/Manual 02:00 PM Marion Downs 10/02/2019 4.10 3 4 5 Moderate 104 105 7.42 Jan 1974 Manual 06:50 PM

Eyre Creek

18/02/2019 Bedourie Manual 4.15 3.5 4.0 5.0 Moderate 20 87 5.68 Mar 2011 03:45 PM 17/02/2019 Cluny Manual 4.05 2.0 3.5 4.5 Moderate 16 80 6.40 Feb 1974 09:00 AM 20/02/2019 Glengyle Manual 3.55 2 3 4 Moderate 27 105 6.45 Feb 1974 09:00 AM

Table 96. Georgina-Eyre significant peak heights

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Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.16 Nicholson River Catchment Summary

The Nicholson River catchment is located in northwest Queensland and covers an area of about 53,200 square kilometres. The river rises on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory, 300 kilometres northwest of Camooweal. It flows in a general easterly direction across the State border. The Gregory River, its major tributary, rises 50 kilometres east of Camooweal and flows in a northerly direction joined by the O'Shanassy River, just downstream of Riversleigh and Lawn Hill Creek, 70 kilometres downstream of Gregory Downs. The Nicholson River is joined by the Gregory River to the southwest of Burketown. The river finally passes through a vast open coastal plain before entering the Gulf of Carpentaria.

More information on the Nicholson River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/nicholson/nicholson.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/nicholson/nicholson.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/leichhardt/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/leichhardt/LeichhardtNicholsonSettlement_map.pdf

Moderate flood levels were recorded along the Gregory River during early February 2019 however river levels downstream did not exceed the minor flood level in either the Nicholson or Albert rivers. The flood warning service provided for the Nicholson River catchment is summarised in Table 97.

Nicholson River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 30 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 31 January 2019 Date of Initial Flood Warning Friday 1 February 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Tuesday 12 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Burketown Airstrip Table 97. Summary of Nicholson River flood warning service

6.16.1 Rainfall

The most significant rainfall that was recorded across the Gulf Country during the event was focussed further to the south and to the east in the Flinders and Leichhardt catchments. Significant falls were not recorded in the Nicholson catchment which is reflected in the areas affected by flooding. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Nicholson catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 98. Note: all of these stations are located within Queensland as very little rainfall information is available from the Northern Territory portion of the catchment area.

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Westmoreland - - - - 3.2 - 17 2.4 37 ------59.6 Station Herbert - - 8.2 - - - - - 7.0 19 24 41 11 - - - - 110.2 Vale Boodjamulla – - - - - 0.8 - 18 4.8 19 66 22 13 13 0.0 0.0 - - 156.6 Lawn Hill Np Riversleigh 0.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 22 35 23 26 33 1.0 0.0 0.0 - 149 TM Gregory 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 11 4.0 10 70 30 11 37 4.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 180 Downs TM Century 0.0 0.0 9.0 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.8 0.2 7.6 13 56 8.6 19 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 115.4 Mine AWS 18mm in Beamesbrook - - - - - 7.0 15 - 24 4 2.0 - - - - 70 2 days Burketown Post Office - - - 0.0 0.0 4.8 ------4.8 SYN Burketown 0.6 0.0 39 0.0 0.2 5.2 5.8 7.8 4.4 3.8 18 0.8 1.2 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 87.2 Ap AWS Table 98. Summary of Nicholson Catchment daily rainfalls

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at locations in the Nicholson River catchment during this event. Rainfall totals recorded during this event were not significant at any duration as shown below in Figure 86 and Table 99.

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Figure 86. Gregory Downs TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 2019-02-01 01:23 2019-02-01 01:24 > 63.2% 2 minutes 4.0 2019-02-01 01:23 2019-02-01 01:25 > 63.2% 3 minutes 5.0 2019-02-01 01:22 2019-02-01 01:25 > 63.2% 4 minutes 6.0 2019-02-01 01:22 2019-02-01 01:26 > 63.2% 5 minutes 7.0 2019-02-01 01:22 2019-02-01 01:27 > 63.2% 10 minutes 13.0 2019-02-01 01:22 2019-02-01 01:32 > 63.2% 15 minutes 16.0 2019-02-01 01:20 2019-02-01 01:35 > 63.2% 30 minutes 31.0 2019-02-01 01:20 2019-02-01 01:50 50% – 63.2% 1 hours 39.0 2019-02-01 01:00 2019-02-01 02:00 50% – 63.2% 2 hours 47.0 2019-02-01 00:00 2019-02-01 02:00 50% – 63.2% 3 hours 54.0 2019-02-01 00:35 2019-02-01 03:30 50% – 63.2% 6 hours 61.0 2019-01-31 23:00 2019-02-01 05:00 50% – 63.2% 12 hours 62.0 2019-01-31 23:00 2019-02-01 11:00 50% – 63.2% 24 hours 70.0 2019-01-31 05:00 2019-02-01 05:00 > 63.2% 2 days 103.0 2019-01-31 10:00 2019-02-02 10:00 50% – 63.2% 3 days 132.0 2019-02-01 00:00 2019-02-04 00:00 20% – 50% 4 days 148.0 2019-01-30 23:14 2019-02-03 23:14 20% – 50% 5 days 162.0 2019-01-30 17:00 2019-02-04 17:00 20% – 50% 6 days 173.0 2019-01-29 05:00 2019-02-04 05:00 20% – 50% 7 days 177.0 2019-01-28 17:00 2019-02-04 17:00 20% – 50% Table 99. Gregory Downs TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

Table 100 and Table 101 below show that when this analysis is conducted at the catchment scale both the daily and weekly catchment-average rainfall totals were not overly significant. This is consistent with the analysis conducted above.

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Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 2 April 2010 120.10 1 31 March 1958 113.99 2 3 January 2009 49.49 19 1 February 2019 29.96 293 Table 100. Nicholson significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 16 March 1903 386.22 1 4 March 1998 304.96 6 5 January 2009 273.88 12 5 February 2019 114.35 494 Table 101. Nicholson significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals).

6.16.2 River Levels

Moderate flood levels were recorded along the Gregory River during this event with no significant river level rises recorded in other parts of the catchment area including downstream at Burketown Airstrip. The hydrograph for Gregory Downs from 1 to 17 February 2019 is shown in Figure 87.

Figure 87. Hydrograph of Gregory River at Gregory Downs TM

The most significant peak at the two river height stations on the Gregory River recorded between 23 January and 18 February 2019 is listed in Table 102. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. No significant rises occurred elsewhere in the Nicholson catchment during this event.

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Date and Flood Classification Height of Flood Highest on record Time of (m) Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Nicholson River

04/02/2019 Riversleigh TM 6.03 3.5 5.0 6.5 Moderate 21 50 10.80 05/03/1971 11:00 PM Gregory Downs 06/02/2019 9.46 4.0 8.0 10.0 Moderate 29 50 13.91 16/01/2004 TM 00:00 AM

Table 102. Significant peaks recorded in the Nicholson catchment between 23 January and 18 February.

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.17 Leichhardt River Catchment Summary

The Leichhardt River catchment is located in northwest Queensland and covers an area of approximately 33,000 square kilometres. The river rises in the Selwyn Ranges, 40 kilometres southeast of Mount Isa. It flows in a northerly direction, through the city of Mount Isa and Lake Moondarra, before passing through Julius Dam. It is joined by its major tributary, Gunpowder Creek, 15 kilometres downstream of Kamileroi. Another major tributary, Fiery Creek, joins the river 70 kilometres downstream of Lorraine. The Alexandra River enters the Leichhardt River from the east, just below Floraville. The river then passes through a vast coastal plain and enters the Gulf of Carpentaria 30 kilometres northeast of Burketown. More information on the Leichhardt River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/leichhardt/leichhardt.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/leichhardt/leichhardt.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/leichhardt/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/leichhardt/LeichhardtNicholsonSettlement_map.pdf

Major flood levels were recorded across the Leichhardt River catchment during early February with some locations close to breaking river height records.

The flood warning service provided for the Leichhardt River catchment for this event is summarised in Table 103 .

Leichhardt River flood warning services overview

No of Flood Warnings issued 30 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 31 January 2019 Date of Initial Flood Warning Friday 1 February 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Tuesday 12 February 2019 Forecast locations affected There are no forecast locations within the Leichhardt River catchment

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Table 103. Summary of the Leichhardt River flood warning service

6.17.1 Rainfall

The most significant rainfall recorded across the Leichhardt River catchment occurred during the first four days of February 2019. Numerous stations recorded several days of daily rainfall close to or in excess of 100 mm. Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Leichhardt River catchment between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 104.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mount Isa - - - 12 - - 2.0 3.8 1.8 21 101 43 25 7.8 6.8 0.0 - 224.2 Mine Mt Isa AWS 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.6 0.0 0.0 2.0 8.0 5.0 17 123 57 34 6.6 6.8 0.0 0.0 267 Doughboy Ck 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 12 2.0 7.0 76 164 129 72 26 4.0 0.0 - 493 TM Julius Dam 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.0 11 1.0 2.8 151 107 204 89 17 2.6 0.4 0.0 586.4 AWS Gereta - - - 2.5 - - 40 17 17 186 94 232 100 30 3.8 - - 722.3 Station Miranda 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 13 5.0 7.0 265 75 138 91 24 0.0 1.0 0.0 619 Creek TM Kamilaroi - - 28 - - - 7.0 - 7.0 152 70 146 112 21 6.0 2.0 - 551 Gunpowder 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 0.0 0.0 31 90 151 119 3.0 0.0 0.0 - 401 TM Lorraine ------9.0 17 146 19 63 - - - - - 254 Nardoo - 8.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.6 27 120 43 30 58 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 293 Augustus - - - 0.0 0.0 18 25 0.0 18 62 10 77 27 7.0 - - - 244 Downs Floraville - 0.0 39 0.0 0.0 10 25 3.0 13 55 25 4.0 6.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 183 TM Table 104. Summary of Leichhardt Catchment daily rainfalls

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at several stations within the Leichhardt River catchment during this event. Several stations recorded significant daily rainfall totals and the most significant of these, Miranda Creek TM, is shown in Figure 88 and Table 105. Rainfall totals recorded over durations of 12 hours to two days had AEP values of 1-2% and were even more significant over 3- to 7-day durations, with AEPs of less than 1%. Whilst Gereta Station recorded the most significant rainfall total for the event it has not been used in the IFD analysis as sub-daily observations are not recorded at this site.

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Figure 88. Miranda Creek TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 2019-01-31 11:01 2019-01-31 11:02 > 63.2% 2 minutes 3.0 2019-01-31 11:00 2019-01-31 11:02 > 63.2% 3 minutes 4.0 2019-01-31 11:00 2019-01-31 11:03 > 63.2% 4 minutes 6.0 2019-01-31 11:18 2019-01-31 11:22 > 63.2% 5 minutes 7.0 2019-01-31 11:17 2019-01-31 11:22 > 63.2% 10 minutes 12.0 2019-01-31 11:00 2019-01-31 11:10 > 63.2% 15 minutes 17.0 2019-01-31 11:07 2019-01-31 11:22 > 63.2% 30 minutes 31.0 2019-01-31 11:01 2019-01-31 11:31 20% – 50% 1 hours 56.0 2019-02-01 02:58 2019-02-01 03:58 20% – 50% 2 hours 83.0 2019-02-01 02:17 2019-02-01 04:15 10% – 20% 3 hours 106.0 2019-02-01 01:00 2019-02-01 04:00 5% – 10% 6 hours 148.0 2019-02-01 00:00 2019-02-01 06:00 2% – 5% 12 hours 199.0 2019-02-01 00:14 2019-02-01 12:14 1% – 2% 24 hours 278.0 2019-01-31 10:00 2019-02-01 10:00 1% – 2% 2 days 343.0 2019-01-31 10:51 2019-02-02 10:51 1% – 2% 3 days 480.0 2019-01-31 10:00 2019-02-03 10:00 < 1% 4 days 569.0 2019-01-31 06:00 2019-02-04 06:00 < 1% 5 days 597.0 2019-01-31 02:00 2019-02-05 02:00 < 1% 6 days 600.0 2019-01-30 08:00 2019-02-05 08:00 < 1% 7 days 614.0 2019-01-28 23:00 2019-02-04 23:00 < 1% Table 105. Miranda Creek TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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The most significant daily and weekly catchment-average rainfall totals recorded in the Leichhardt River catchment since 1900 are listed in Table 106 and Table 107. This event has the four most significant weekly totals and also two daily totals within the top six.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 22 March 2006 166.21 1 8 January 1911 125.68 2 1 February 2019 114.67 5 3 February 2019 112.44 6 Table 106. Leichhardt significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 5 February 2019 397.58 1 4 February 2019 395.89 2 7 February 2019 376.76 4 4 March 1998 346.90 5 Table 107. Leichhardt significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.17.2 River Levels

Major flood levels were recorded along the Leichhardt River during this event with the river level at Floraville peaking just below the record height set in 2009. Figure 89 and Figure 90 are the recorded hydrographs for early February 2019 at Lorraine Station and Floraville, both located in the lower parts of the Leichhardt River catchment.

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Figure 89. Hydrograph of the Leichhardt River at Lorraine

Figure 90. Hydrograph of the Leichhardt River at Floraville TM

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The most significant peak at each river height station in the Leichhardt River catchment recorded between 23 January and 18 February 2019 is listed in Table 108. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. River levels for this event were generally as significant as those recorded in March 2006 and January 2009.

Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Leichhardt River

Doughboy Creek 02/02/2019 10.15 6.0 8.0 10.0 Major 5 38 11.57 04/03/1997 TM 10:00 AM 03/02/2019 Julius Dam TM 3.01 No flood classifications N/A 4 38 4.51 04/03/1997 02:45 AM Miranda Creek 01/02/2019 5.36 No flood classifications N/A 14 50 10.26 05/03/1971 TM 05:39 AM 04/02/2019 Kamilaroi 16.30 10.0 12.0 14.0 Major 2 16 17.10 03/2006 06:30 AM 03/02/2019 Gunpowder TM 6.46 5.5 6.5 7.5 Minor 10 48 10.63 22/03/2006 02:38 PM 04/02/2019 Lorraine 16.87 10.0 13.0 15.0 Major 2 45 16.90 23/03/2006 11:30 PM 06/02/2019 Augustus Downs 13.45 9.0 10.0 11.0 Major 2 16 13.55 03/2006 06:30 AM 16 Mile No data provided 3.0 4.0 5.0 N/A N/A 45 5.51 30/01/2009 Waterhole TM 07/02/2019 Floraville TM 10.09 5.0 6.5 8.0 Major 2 32 10.18 02/02/2009 07:30 AM

Table 108. Leichhardt significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.18 Flinders

The Flinders River catchment is located in northwest Queensland and covers an area of approximately 109,000 sq km. The river rises in the Great Dividing Range, 110 km northeast of Hughenden and flows initially in a westerly direction towards Julia Creek, before flowing north to the vast savannah country downstream of Canobie. It passes through its delta and finally into the Gulf of Carpentaria, 25 km west of Karumba. The Cloncurry and Corella rivers, its major tributaries, enter the river from the southwest above Canobie Station.

There are several towns in the catchment including Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek and Cloncurry. Floods typically develop in the headwaters of the Flinders, Cloncurry and Corella rivers. Typically, heavy rainfall can develop from tropical disturbances in the Gulf of Carpentaria which can cause widespread flooding, particularly in the lower reaches below Canobie. More information on the Flinders River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

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• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/flinders/flinders.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/flinders/flinders.pdf

and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/flinders/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/flinders/FlindersMorning_map.pdf

A complete breakdown of the flood warning services provided to the Flinders River catchment is outlined in Table 109 below.

Flinders River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 50 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 31 January 2019 (issue #9) Date of Initial Flood Warning Thursday 31 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Tuesday 26 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Richmond, Cloncurry, Walkers Bend Table 109. Summary of Flinders River flood warning services

6.18.1 Rainfall

The Flinders catchment had a period of 10 consecutive days of widespread rainfall in excess of 50 mm between 29 January and 7 February 2019. The rainfall occurred as two periods of initial heavy rainfall in late January, and then again as a more intense burst of very heavy rainfall five days later in early February, which resulted in two flood peaks moving down the catchment. The highest daily total of 331 mm was recorded to 9am on 5 February 2019 at Gilliat River TM and was also the day that recorded the most widespread heavy rainfall, with more than 100 mm reported at 20 locations across the catchment. The highest event total of 700.5 mm was recorded at Hulberts Bridge TM.

A full breakdown of daily rainfalls from each station is provided in Table 110 below.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mt Emu Plains - 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 70 59 23 46 21 18 20 14 101 4.0 377 TM Whites 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 30 68 13 56 22 24 22 36 74 6.5 352 Mountain TM Glendower 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 30 52 11 50 9 13 10 15 65 3.0 259 Crossing TM Hughenden 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.0 27 39 13 30 15 11 16 17 59 2.8 230.6 Ap AWS Richmond 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25 53 70 113 59 32 17 40 146 91 21 667 Richmond TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 21 55 64 101 61 31 16 37 110 89 18 603 Richmond 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 21 53 66 92 73 38 18 46 123 79 20 629 Ap AWS Hulberts 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 26 158 47 139 62 72 16 49 70 29 32 700.5 Bridge TM Punchbowl 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 51 31 48 7 20 50 28 137 79 26 - 477 TM Etta Plains TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 28 3 55 42 99 32 126 108 38 3.0 - 534 Julia Creek Ap 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 31 17 55 32 13 86 32 233 60 24 2.2 585.4 AWS

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Julia Creek 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25 21 52 19 12 64 22 165 49 14 1 444 TM Glen Idol TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 55 73 57 62 67 67 43 162 41 28 3.0 659 Lands End - - - - - 18 9.5 25 45 - 95 81 285 50 - - - 608.5 Station Landsborough 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 27 129 43 86 102 46 88 18 18 3.0 570 Hwy TM Gilliat River 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16 6.0 13 41 72 34 107 331 33 - - 653 TM Selwyn TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 28 24 28 19 67 11 9 62 23 - - 274 Devoncourt - - - 3.0 - - 47 16 64 35 63 25 18 60 6.4 0.6 - 338 Black Gorge 0.0 0.0 0.0 12 0.0 0.0 25 42 65 103 88 42 40 60 19 1.0 0.0 497 TM Cloncurry - - - 0.0 0.0 0.0 14 23 18 37 163 106 59 67 6.8 16 - 509.8 Town Cloncurry 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 17 16 - 62 178 90 59 61 3.6 13 0.6 500.8 Ap AWS Cloncurry TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 13 24 11 71 182 94 55 58 3.0 14 0.0 525 Brinard ------46 51 151 231 34 8.0 - 521 Station Corella Dam 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 0.0 0.0 3.0 26 18 123 120 50 30 32 8.0 1.0 0.0 421 Hw TM Dugald River 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 12 2.0 29 124 116 128 140 57 17 2.0 1.0 628 TM Canobie TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 52 58 94 31 80 45 58 56 0.0 0.0 474 Donors Hill ------16 40 8 105 41 29 16 6.0 8.0 - 12 281 Station SYN Bunda Bunda ------26 38 61 83 177 38 14 437 Punchbowl Rd 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 58 20 78 32 25 44 30 123 136 14 - 565 TM Millungera ------82 33 85 162 141 - - 503 Station Wondoola TM 0.0 0.0 19 1.0 0.0 1.0 90 8.0 77 53 28 13 4.0 3.0 5.0 6.0 0.0 308 Walkers Bend 0.0 0.0 7.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 125 1.0 51 85 25 5.0 5.0 0.0 4.0 1.0 - 309 TM Table 110. Summary of Flinders Catchment daily rainfalls

The IFD plot and table shown in Figure 91 and Table 111 below for Hulberts Bridge TM indicates that for 15 minutes to two hour duration rainfall had less than a 10% AEP, and that for 3- to 7-day durations the rainfall had less than a 1% AEP.

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Figure 91. Hulberts Bridge TM Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 5 minutes 14.0 29/01/2019 18:00 29/01/2019 18:05 10% – 20% 10 minutes 26.0 29/01/2019 17:56 29/01/2019 18:06 10% – 20% 15 minutes 37.5 29/01/2019 17:53 29/01/2019 18:08 5% – 10% 30 minutes 60.0 29/01/2019 17:45 29/01/2019 18:15 2% – 5% 1 hour 75.0 29/01/2019 17:39 29/01/2019 18:39 2% – 5% 2 hours 80.0 29/01/2019 17:39 29/01/2019 19:36 5% – 10% 3 hours 85.5 29/01/2019 17:39 29/01/2019 20:36 10% – 20% 6 hours 112.0 29/01/2019 17:39 29/01/2019 23:39 5% – 10% 12 hours 154.5 29/01/2019 15:18 30/01/2019 03:14 2% – 5% 24 hours 168.5 29/01/2019 15:00 30/01/2019 15:00 2% – 5% 2 days 234.5 31/01/2019 18:00 02/02/2019 18:00 1% – 2% 3 days 363.0 29/01/2019 15:00 01/02/2019 14:12 < 1% 4 days 421.0 29/01/2019 17:39 02/02/2019 17:39 < 1% 5 days 490.5 28/01/2019 23:20 02/02/2019 23:20 < 1% 6 days 504.0 28/01/2019 18:00 03/02/2019 18:00 < 1% 7 days 559.0 29/01/2019 17:39 05/02/2019 17:11 < 1% Table 111. Hulberts Bridge TM Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration analysis

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The IFD plot and table shown below in Figure 92 and Table 112 for Gilliat River TM indicates that for 12 hour to seven day durations rainfall had less than a 1% AEP.

Figure 92. Gilliat River TM Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration plot Chance of Period Peak depth From...... to occurring in any one year 5 minutes 4.0 mm 04/02/2019 07:45 04/02/2019 07:50 > 63.2% 10 minutes 8.0 mm 05/02/2019 04:28 05/02/2019 04:38 > 63.2% 15 minutes 11.0 mm 04/02/2019 16:03 04/02/2019 16:18 > 63.2% 30 minutes 19.0 mm 05/02/2019 04:08 05/02/2019 04:38 > 63.2% 1 hour 39.0 mm 05/02/2019 04:23 05/02/2019 05:23 50% – 63.2% 2 hours 59.0 mm 05/02/2019 03:24 05/02/2019 05:23 20% – 50% 3 hours 85.0 mm 05/02/2019 02:23 05/02/2019 05:23 10% – 20% 6 hours 140.0 mm 05/02/2019 00:26 05/02/2019 06:25 2% – 5% 12 hours 222.0 mm 04/02/2019 20:01 05/02/2019 08:01 < 1% 24 hours 335.0 mm 04/02/2019 07:33 05/02/2019 07:33 < 1% 2 days 454.0 mm 03/02/2019 15:00 05/02/2019 15:00 < 1% 3 days 497.0 mm 02/02/2019 19:00 05/02/2019 18:15 < 1% 4 days 551.0 mm 01/02/2019 18:00 05/02/2019 18:00 < 1% 5 days 608.0 mm 31/01/2019 19:00 05/02/2019 18:15 < 1% 6 days 628.0 mm 30/01/2019 19:00 05/02/2019 18:15 < 1% 7 days 641.0 mm 29/01/2019 20:00 05/02/2019 20:00 < 1% Table 112. Gilliat River TM Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration analysis

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The following tables (Table 113 and Table 114) are generated for the Flinders River catchment and compares this event to other significant historical events. On 5 February 2019, it was the third most significant daily rainfall total averaged over the catchment. In the week ending 6 February 2019, it was the most significant weekly rainfall total average over the catchment since 1900.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 14 January 1991 104.96 1 08 January 1911 100.68 2 05 February 2019 82.66 3 13 March 1937 72.15 4 28 December 2000 71.81 5 20 December 1976 67.59 7 Table 113. Flinders significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 06 February 2019 424.93 1 15 January 1991 298.07 6 10 January 1911 265.83 14 24 January 1974 253.66 17 08 January 2009 218.34 27 21 January 1981 210.04 30 Table 114. Flinders significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.18.2 River Levels

The late January and early February flood event in the Flinders River catchment was very significant. New flood records were recorded at numerous river height stations along the length of the Flinders River and Cloncurry River. Each of the following hydrographs (Figure 93 and Figure 94) show an initial flood peak followed by a larger second flood peak, reflecting the two defined rainfall periods across the catchments. Note: there are two river height stations at Richmond, with the manual station at Richmond Post Office (Figure 93) being the forecast location.

Figure 93. Hydrograph of the Flinders River at Richmond Post Office

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Figure 94. Hydrograph of the Flinders River at Richmond TM

Further downstream along the Flinders River, various tributaries draining the southwest corner of the catchment flow northwards, and flow into the main Flinders River downstream of Canobie. The gauging station at Julia Creek is located where the Flinders Highway crosses Julia Creek; the hydrograph is shown in Figure 95.

Figure 95. Hydrograph of the Flinders River at Julia Creek TM

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A major tributary from the southwest of the catchment is the Cloncurry River. The following hydrograph (Figure 96 ) is for the gauging station at the Cloncurry township.

Figure 96. Hydrograph of the Cloncurry River at Cloncurry TM As the major tributaries of the Cloncurry River, Gilliat River and smaller creeks including the Corella Creek combine, these pass through the gauging station on the Cloncurry River at Canobie (Figure 97 below).

Figure 97. Hydrograph of the Cloncurry River at Canobie TM Flood mark recorded after the flood event by river height station owner.

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The final hydrograph (Figure 98) shows the available information received from the gauging station located on the Flinders River at Walkers Bend (where floodwaters from the Flinders River enter the delta of the Gulf of Carpentaria).

Due to the remoteness of these sites and limited communication options, these sites communicate using satellite telemetry. A data outage occurred during this flood event which resulted in loss of data for a period of time, but generally less than three days). Although the timing of the flood peak is not known, subsequent visits by the river height station owner to each site following the flood event resolved the maximum flood level that was reached at each site based on flood debris heights. The grey zone below indicates the period within which the peak is likely to have occurred whilst the red line shows the peak height reached. This flood peak was a new record for this location, with the Flinders River Bridge being submerged by over 12 m of floodwater for in excess of three weeks.

Figure 98. Hydrograph of the Flinders River at Walkers Bend TM

Flood mark recorded after the flood event by river height station owner.

Outlined in Table 115 below is the most significant peak at each of the river height stations in the Flinders River catchment recorded between 28 January and 13 February 2019. The historical significance of this peak is also provided. The secondary peaks recorded during this event were nearly all records along the Flinders River. This is further underscored by the widespread damage that was caused as a result of this event and also the fact that the extent of the flood was visible from space.

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Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak 01/02/2019 7.35 Moderate 2 7.59 Feb 2018 Richmond PO 03:00 PM 5 6 8 130 Manual 01/02/2019 9.38 Major 1 NEW RECORD 03:00 PM 02/02/2019 7.97 Moderate 10 8.76 Jan 1984 04:00 PM Richmond TM 4.5 6 8.2 47 07/02/2019 9.81 Major 1 NEW RECORD 07:00 PM 03/02/2019 11.68 Major 2 8.42 Dec 2015 Hulberts 11:50 AM 7 10 12 7 Bridge TM 07/02/2019 12.35 Major 1 NEW RECORD 11:30 PM 10/02/2019 Etta Plains TM 10.75 No Flood Classifications N/A 6 46 11.30 Sept 1972 06:00 AM 03/02/2019 4.38 Moderate 10 09:00 AM Julia Creek TM 3.5 4.0 4.5 48 5.43 Jan 1974 05/02/2019 5.03 Major 2 06:33 PM 03/02/2019 6.75 Moderate 19 Cloncurry TM 03:00 AM 3 5 7 61 10.48 Mar 1997 (and Manual) 05/02/2019 6.75 Moderate 19 02:40 PM

Canobie TM 11.95 06/02/2019 No flood classifications N/A 1 47 NEW RECORD

Walkers Bend 17.12 Feb 2019 5.0 5.3 5.6 Major 1 49 NEW RECORD TM (and Manual)

Table 115. Flinders River catchment significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.19 Norman River Catchment Summary

The Norman River catchment is located in northwest Queensland and covers an area of approximately 49,000 sq km. The river rises in the Gregory Range (Great Dividing Range) 200 km southeast of Croydon and flows in a northwesterly direction. It is joined by its major tributaries, the Clara and Yappar rivers. The river flows through the township of Normanton and then enters the Gulf of Carpentaria at the fishing port of Karumba. More information on the Norman River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/norman/norman.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/norman/norman.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/gilbert/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/gilbert/Gilbert_Norman_map.pdf

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During this event significant breakout flows from the neighbouring Flinders River catchment combined with already elevated local river levels to produce moderate flood levels along the Norman River catchment. The flood warning service provided for the Norman River catchment is summarised in Table 116 below.

Norman River flood waring services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 46 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 24 January 2019 (issue number 2) Date of Initial Flood Warning Thursday 29 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Friday 1 February 2019 Forecast locations affected Normanton Table 116. Summary of Norman River flood warning services

6.19.1 Rainfall

Heavy rainfall was recorded across the Norman River catchment on multiple days during this event. Iffley TM recorded the highest total rainfall within the catchment with 522 mm, and Normanton TM recorded the highest daily total of 133 mm. Daily rainfalls from each station are provided in Table 117.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Iffley TM 0.0 0.0 16 1.0 0.0 1.0 41 76 127 40 71 72 31 8.0 19 8.0 11 522 Yappar River - - 1.0 - - - 51 32 39 30 45 42 9.0 2.0 11 8.0 4.0 274 Yappar 0.0 0.0 17 0.0 0.0 0.0 86 44 64 38 54 44 7.0 0.0 13 7.0 1.0 375 Junction TM Croydon SYN - - 3.2 6.8 5.8 - 91 28 7.0 24 42 40 46 14 3.4 1.2 9.8 322.2 Broadwater 0.0 0.0 15 1.0 0.0 0.0 12 24 23 47 62 29 5.0 0.0 8.0 2.0 2.0 230 TM Glenore Weir 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 11 68 76 42 9.0 2.0 5.0 1.0 1.0 218 TM Normanton 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.4 21 4.4 12 108 70 34 22 0.4 0.8 1.8 0.2 276.6 Ap AWS Normanton 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 16 6.0 5.0 133 70 45 16 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 293 TM Upper Walker 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 0.0 5.0 7.0 16 45 45 44 88 36 8.0 2.0 2.0 20 326 Ck TM Lower Walker 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 20 107 64 33 29 3.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 266 Ck TM Table 117. Summary of Norman Catchment daily rainfalls

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at locations within the Norman River catchment during this event. Broadly, the rainfall recorded at durations of less than three hours were less statistically significant than those of durations between six hours and four days. The most statistically significant rainfall occurred at 5-7 day durations with AEP values of 2%-5% as shown in the data for Iffley TM in Figure 99 and Table 118.

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Figure 99. Iffley TM Rainfall Intensity –Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 1.0 2019-02-02 02:59 2019-02-02 03:00 > 63.2% 2 minutes 2.0 2019-01-31 08:58 2019-01-31 09:00 > 63.2% 3 minutes 2.0 2019-01-31 08:58 2019-01-31 09:00 > 63.2% 4 minutes 2.0 2019-01-31 08:58 2019-01-31 09:00 > 63.2% 5 minutes 8.0 2019-01-31 04:13 2019-01-31 04:18 > 63.2% 10 minutes 15.0 2019-01-31 04:13 2019-01-31 04:23 > 63.2% 15 minutes 22.0 2019-01-31 04:13 2019-01-31 04:28 50% – 63.2% 30 minutes 36.0 2019-01-31 04:08 2019-01-31 04:38 20% – 50% 1 hours 47.0 2019-01-31 04:08 2019-01-31 05:03 20% – 50% 2 hours 69.0 2019-01-31 04:08 2019-01-31 06:05 20% – 50% 3 hours 82.0 2019-01-31 04:08 2019-01-31 07:05 20% – 50% 6 hours 118.0 2019-01-31 03:51 2019-01-31 09:36 5% – 10% 12 hours 140.0 2019-01-31 03:00 2019-01-31 15:00 5% – 10% 24 hours 154.0 2019-01-30 14:27 2019-01-31 13:27 10% – 20% 2 days 216.0 2019-01-31 03:10 2019-02-02 03:10 10% – 20% 3 days 287.0 2019-01-31 00:00 2019-02-03 00:00 5% – 10% 4 days 326.0 2019-01-30 21:00 2019-02-03 21:00 5% – 10% 5 days 398.0 2019-01-29 00:00 2019-02-03 00:00 2% – 5% 6 days 433.0 2019-01-29 00:00 2019-02-04 00:00 2% – 5% 7 days 441.0 2019-01-29 00:00 2019-02-05 00:00 2% – 5% Table 118. Iffley TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Daily rainfall totals averaged across the catchment for this flood event were not overly significant when compared with other historical flood events as shown in Table 119. The catchment average weekly rainfall totals from this event were more significant but still only ranked just within the top 20, with rainfall totals well below those of the 1974 and 1991 events as shown in Table 120.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 13 January 1940 117.18 1 6 February 1916 116.38 2 26 March 2018 104.14 8 6 February 2019 68.23 37 Table 119. Norman significant catchment averaged rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 25 January 1974 572.98 1 24 January 1974 562.44 2 14 January 1991 435.00 7 6 February 2019 325.98 18 Table 120. Norman significant catchment averaged rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.19.2 River Levels

River heights in the Norman River reached moderate flood levels during this event. The most significant feature of this flood was that floodwaters from the Flinders River were so large that they broke out and contributed to the flood peak recorded in the lower Norman River. The hydrograph for the Normanton river height station located on the lower Norman River for late January and early February is shown in Figure 100.

Figure 100. Hydrograph of Norman River at Normanton TM The most significant peak at each river height station in the Norman River catchment recorded between 24 January and 13 February 2019 is listed in Table 121. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. Three stations in the catchment reported record flood levels during this event, but each location has less than four years of data, and no defined flood classifications, so these have

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been excluded from the table. The stations with longer records generally recorded flood peaks within the top five on record, but still significantly less than the 1974 flood event.

Date and Height of Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak 12/02/2019 Yappar River 3.74 1.6 2.5 3.8 Moderate 4 45 7.05 Jan 1974 07:00 PM 12/02/2019 Glenore Weir TM 14.12 9.0 12.0 15.0 Moderate 5 45 18.28 Jan 1974 10:40 AM Normanton 13/02/2019 4.91 2.0 4.0 6.0 Moderate 5 45 8.80 Jan 1974 Composite 12:00 PM

Table 121. Significant peaks recorded in the Norman River between 24 January and 13 February

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

6.20 Gilbert Catchment Summary

The Gilbert River catchment is located in northwest Queensland and covers an area of approximately 47,000 sq km. The Gilbert River rises in the Great Dividing Range approximately 150 km southeast of Georgetown and flows in a northwesterly direction. Downstream of Strathmore, the Gilbert River is joined by its major tributary, the Einasleigh River, before finally entering the Gulf of Carpentaria in a river delta 100 km wide. Floods normally develop in the headwaters of the Gilbert and Einasleigh Rivers. More information on the Gilbert River catchment is available via the Bureau's flood information brochure:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/gilbert/gilbert.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/gilbert/gilbert.pdf and the flood warning network map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/gilbert/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/gilbert/Gilbert_Norman_map.pdf

The flood warning service provided for the Gilbert River catchment is summarised in Table 122 below.

Gilbert River flood warning services overview No of Flood Warnings issued 33 Date of Flood Watch Thursday 24 January 2019 Date of Initial Flood Warning Thursday 1 February 2019 Date of Final Flood Warning Thursday 14 February 2019 Forecast locations affected No forecast locations Table 122. Summary of Gilbert River flood warning service

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6.20.1 Rainfall

Daily rainfall totals over 50 mm were consistently recorded in the Gilbert River catchment area between January 23 and February 8 2019. The highest daily rainfall total of 101 mm was recorded at Mirani Downs to 9am on 3 February 2019. Kidston Dam recorded the highest rainfall total for the event with 501 mm.

Daily rainfall totals recorded in the Gilbert River catchment from 23 January to 8 February 2019 are listed in Table 123.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Total Station Name January February (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gilberton ------10 76 32 67 67 63 72 53 23 19 13 495 North Head - - - - 11 3.0 36 - 23 30 80 30 15 40 63 7.0 12 350 Green Hills - - - 3.8 9.0 14 17 69 42 25 35 28 8.0 17 7.8 5.2 11 291.8 Robin Hood - - - 0.0 8.0 8.0 9.0 51 15 38 56 44 47 20 48 12 4.0 360 Station Rockfields 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 15 21 10 28 28 7.0 28 21 6.0 31 11 0.0 - 209 TM Spanner 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 14 5.0 ------23 Waterhole TM Kidston 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 10 7.0 6.0 57 44 63 74 65 23 69 42 22 18 501 Dam Tw TM Einasleigh 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 13 10 47 65 19 55 51 34 18 23 41 6.0 385 TM The - - - 6.0 11 8.5 20 19 66 71 37 30 88 55 16 3.0 40 470.5 Lynd Station Mt 0.0 2.0 3.0 8.0 14 16 50 26 13 30 20 16 35 15 39 12 1.0 300 Surprise TM Yaramulla ------19 25 38 20 - - - 102 Abingdon - 4.0 - 5.0 57 20 24 55 19 23 31 40 6.0 11 20 16 - 331 Downs Routh 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 9.0 2.0 59 41 8.0 34 55 41 7.0 22 44 14 27 369 River TM Roseglen 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 16 5.0 36 32 19 23 55 34 7.0 9.0 18 1.0 23 282 TM Abingdon 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 31 19 8.0 36 0.0 24 15 39 8 10 14 0.0 - 209 Downs TM Georgetown 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.4 14 9.6 48 28 41 29 65 37 5.6 13 1.8 - 295.4 Airport AWS Minnies 0.0 0.0 10 12 37 5.0 2.0 12 19 11 15 28 16 16 1.0 0.0 - 184 Dip TM Miranda - - - 16 5.0 - - 26 6.4 - 72 101 33 8.4 4.6 2.8 15 290.2 Downs Burke 0.0 0.0 1.0 18 7.0 0.0 0.0 14 9.0 64 65 78 23 11 2.0 2.0 - 294 Dev Rd TM Table 123. Summary of Gilbert Catchment daily rainfalls

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at stations within the Gilbert River catchment during this event. The data for Kidston Dam TM, which had the highest rainfall total for the event is shown in Figure 101 and Table 124.

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The AEP generally increases in significance as the duration increases, with the seven day rainfall AEP value at 1%-2%. Rainfall observations at durations less than 10 minutes were not available for the assessment.

Figure 101. Kidston Dam Rainfall Intensity –Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 10 minutes 15.0 2019-01-31 19:50 2019-01-31 20:00 20% – 50% 15 minutes 15.0 2019-01-31 19:50 2019-01-31 20:00 > 63.2% 30 minutes 29.0 2019-01-31 19:40 2019-01-31 20:10 20% – 50% 1 hours 38.0 2019-01-31 19:10 2019-01-31 20:10 20% – 50% 2 hours 46.0 2019-01-31 19:00 2019-01-31 21:00 20% – 50% 3 hours 48.0 2019-01-31 19:00 2019-01-31 22:00 50% – 63.2% 6 hours 57.0 2019-01-31 19:00 2019-02-01 01:00 50% – 63.2% 12 hours 70.0 2019-02-01 10:00 2019-02-01 22:00 50% – 63.2% 24 hours 96.0 2019-01-31 19:00 2019-02-01 19:00 20% – 50% 2 days 162.0 2019-01-31 15:00 2019-02-02 15:00 10% – 20% 3 days 227.0 2019-01-29 22:00 2019-02-01 22:00 5% – 10% 4 days 269.0 2019-01-30 03:00 2019-02-03 03:00 5% – 10% 5 days 316.0 2019-01-31 17:00 2019-02-05 17:00 2% – 5% 6 days 378.0 2019-01-30 03:00 2019-02-05 03:00 2% – 5% 7 days 424.0 2019-01-30 03:00 2019-02-06 03:00 1% – 2%

Table 124. Kidston Dam Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Daily rainfall totals averaged over the catchment for this flood event were not overly significant when compared with other historical flood events as shown in Table 125. The highest catchment average weekly rainfall totals for this event were more significant, ranking 19-highest on record, however rainfall totals were still well below those of the 1974 event as shown in Table 126.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 27 March 2018 134.85 1 7 March 1956 119.41 2 30 Jan 1965 106.16 4 2 February 2019 53.49 78 Table 125. Gilbert significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 25 January 1974 464.58 1 14 January 1991 393.78 6 21 March 2012 280.57 16 5 January 1947 268.14 19 Table 126. Gilbert significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.20.2 River Levels

Minor to moderate flooding was recorded in the Gilbert River catchment between 24 January and 14 February 2019. The river level at the Burke Development Road remained above the level of the bridge for approximately 12 days as shown in Figure 102 .The hydrograph for Einasleigh TM on the Einasleigh River is shown in Figure 103.

Figure 102. Hydrograph of Gilbert River at Burke Development Road

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Figure 103. Hydrograph of the Gilbert River at Einasleigh

The most significant peak at river height stations in the Gilbert catchment recorded between 24 January and 13 February 2019 are listed in Table 127. The historical significance of each peak is also provided. Einasleigh TM recorded its second-highest peak flood height in its 51 years of record during this event. Other stations with longer records generally recorded flood peaks within the top 15, but the levels were still significantly less than those recorded during 1974.

Date and Flood Classification Flood Highest on record Height of Peak Time of (m) Years of Station name class Rank (m) Recorded Record Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Gilbert River

5/02/2019 Einasleigh TM 13.34 9 13 16 Moderate 2nd 51 17.53 Jan 1974 9:10 PM 4/02/2019 Green Hills 6.0 4 8 10 Minor 9th 45 13.45 1974 10:00 AM Miranda Downs 8/02/2019 4.75 3 4 7 Moderate 2nd 15 4.85 Mar 2018 Station 7:15 PM 7/02/2019 North Head 6.2 5 8 9 Minor 8th 45 10.94 Jan 1974 10:00 AM 3/02/2019 Below Roseglen TM 5.36 6.5 7.5 9 53rd 50 9.39 Jan 1974 11:00AM Minor

Table 127. Significant peak heights recorded in the Gilbert catchment between 25 January and 13 February Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

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6.21 Cape York Peninsula Catchment Summary

The Cape York Peninsula is a remote peninsula in northern Queensland which is bordered by the Gulf of Carpentaria to the west and the Coral Sea on the east. The Cape York Peninsula's river catchments produce about one quarter of Australia's surface runoff each year. The peninsula is quite flat, following thousands of years of erosion and is dominated by meandering rivers. The peninsula is divided by the Peninsula Ridge which forms the northern most part of the Great Dividing Range. To the east of the Peninsula Ridge are a series of small, fast-flowing catchments including the Jacky Jacky Creek, Olive, Pascoe, Lockhart, Stewart, Jeannie and Endeavour rivers which flow towards the Coral Sea and to the west of the ridge a series of much larger, winding river systems including the Mitchell, Staaten, Coleman, Holroyd, Archer, Watson, Wenlock, Ducie and Jardine river catchments which discharge into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Due to the high rainfall and corresponding runoff recorded each year, roads and tracks can be cut for long periods of time which may isolate communities reliant upon them.

More information on the flood warning monitoring network located across the Cape York Peninsula is available via the Bureau's network maps available here:

Cape York general map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/daintree/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/daintree/Far-North-Qld_map.pdf

Mitchell/Staaten catchment map:

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/mitchell_staaten/map.shtml or

• http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/mitchell_staaten/Mitchell_Staaten_map.pdf

Flood Watches are issued for Cape York Peninsula catchments, but no catchment-specific flood warning service is currently provided. Flood Watches were issued throughout this event raising awareness of the risk of traffic disruption and isolation of communities. The service is summarised in Table 128.

Cape York peninsula flood service overview No of Flood Watches issued 13 Date of Initial Flood Watch Rainfall event 1: Wednesday 23 January 2019 Rainfall event 2: Tuesday 29 January 2019 Date of Final Flood Watch Rainfall event 1: Saturday 26 January 2019 Rainfall event 2: Monday 4 February 2019 Forecast locations affected No flood warning service provided Table 128. Summary of Eastern Cape York Peninsula Catchments flood watch service

6.21.1 Rainfall

The heaviest rainfall recorded across the Eastern Cape York Peninsula catchments occurred in late January 2019. Further rainfall was recorded in February however totals through this second period of rainfall were less significant. East Normanby River TM rain gauge recorded the highest daily totals

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with several other stations recording at least 50 mm of rainfall on consecutive days on 26 to 27 January 2019.

Daily rainfall values over 100 mm were recorded in the Western Cape York Rivers between 23 January and 8 February 2019. The highest daily rainfall total of 225 mm was recorded at Southwell Station in the Coleman River catchment to 9am on 7 February 2019. Southwell Station manual rainfall gauge also recorded the highest rainfall total of 658 mm across the event.

Daily rainfall totals recorded across the Eastern and Western Cape York Peninsula catchments between 23 January and 8 February 2019 are listed below in Table 129 and Table 130.

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cape Flattery 2.6 2.6 1.6 20 49 1.0 7.6 23 6.0 0.6 36 30 16 3.8 2.2 3.4 0.8 206.2 AWS * Lakeland 0.0 0.0 9.0 103 79 11 7.0 11 20 37 28 10 26 25 21 5.0 9.0 401 Downs TM * Normanby River East 0.0 0.0 18 88 117 10 11 5.0 19 29 37 12 47 7.0 17 10 - 427 TM * Battle Camp 0.0 0.0 12 71 96 32 0.0 22 2.0 30 17 22 6.0 6.0 6.0 1.0 - 323 TM * Laura Qld 2.4 - 6.5 51 73 9.0 12 2.4 30 - 24 - 46 37 47 17 - 357.3 Laura River 0.0 1.0 20 55 78 19 7.0 3.0 26 34 34 20 46 56 62 8.0 11 480 TM * Kalpower Crossing 0.0 1.0 19 33 33 10 5.0 0.0 1.0 27 33 31 3.0 1.0 14 6.0 - 217 TM * Hann River 0.0 1.0 22 63 81 1.0 20 3.0 16 8.0 42 32 20 9.0 13 10 2.0 343 TM * Lotus 1.2 5 72 81 41 7.2 34 1.6 8.0 21 23 14 5.6 2.6 11 11 1.2 340.4 Bird Lodge Stewart 2.0 13 57 56 7.0 2.0 21 4.0 4.0 14 5.0 16 4.0 22 3.0 2.0 - 232 River TM * Lockhart 13 10 67 14 1.4 7.2 4.8 14 1.8 2.2 12 18 7.0 4.6 3.4 10 23 213.4 River AWS * Pascoe 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 - 4 River TM * Garraway 57 26 65 10 4.0 9.0 26 6.0 5.0 15 20 20 17 7.0 3.0 1.0 - 291 Ck TM * Table 129. Summary of Eastern Cape York Peninsula Catchments daily rainfalls

Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January February Name (mm) 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dorunda 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 50 63 1.0 0.0 39 18 45 55 83 58 33 5.0 3.0 - 457 TM Flatrock 0.0 0.0 7.0 0.0 27 38 25 13 4.0 2.0 22 17 5.0 41 10 3.0 1.0 - 215 TM Rookwood 0.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 13 36 75 15 12 40 14 7.0 12 38 15 26 3.0 - 309 TM Trimbles 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 25 94 23 44 10 39 11 22 39 49 23 30 7.0 - 422 Crossing TM

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Rainfall (mm) recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Station Total January Name (mm) 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gamboola 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 29 126 9.0 23 18 29 15 23 60 49 20 11 4.0 - 417 TM Highbury - - - - 30 134 19 15 17 19 15 46 98 154 11 8.2 8.4 12 586.6 Station Nullinga TM 1.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 61 45 8.0 17 12 22 28 18 - - 17 12 2.0 1.0 245 Fonthill TM 0.0 0.0 1.0 25 78 144 5.0 13 15 1.0 37 14 6.0 29 9.0 4.0 0.0 - 381 Mcleod 0.0 0.0 1.0 3.0 64 108 3.0 9.0 2.0 16 51 15 2.0 32 3.0 5.0 0.0 - 314 River TM Mount Carbine - - - - 106 170 10 4.0 20 4.2 ------314.2 Township Cooktown 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 49 79 14 6.0 7.0 9.0 30 16 4.0 25 10 3.0 17 - 270 Crossing TM Ok Bridge TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 20 34 13 28 15 15 18 16 17 89 6.0 6.0 2.0 - 279 Palmer 0.0 - 0.0 5.0 50 40 10 19 5.0 15 34 28 4.0 28 6.0 12 13 4.0 273 River TM Palmerville 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 22 74 11 20 6.4 13 24 21 14 12 35 17 8.4 15 293.2 AWS Drumduff TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 71 61 9.0 28 2.0 - 171 Dunbar TM 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 53 24 5.0 20 6.0 13 33 111 107 112 43 19 2.0 - 550 Kowanyama 0.0 0.4 0.0 14 24 4.0 2.4 3.8 10 40 55 114 96 28 18 12 4.4 6.2 432.2 Ap SYN Southwell - - - 16 31 1.2 3.6 16 5.4 17 11 147 71 22 25 63 225 3.6 657.8 Station Telegraph 2.0 7.0 6.0 41 17 21 19 21 5.0 5 4.0 6.0 41 8.0 51 8.0 1.0 0.0 261 Crossing TM Holroyd TM 0.0 7.0 7.0 23 84 9.0 11 24 5.0 19 8.0 70 36 14 6.0 15 16 - 354 Archer River - - - - 19 22 18 33 - - - 11 48 9.6 53 - - - 213.6 Piccaninny 16 7.0 13 65 17 10 22 28 10 13 - 35 18 32 21 15 29 - 335 Plains Coen Race- 0.0 2.0 38 26 51 3.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 25 24 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 172 course TM Coen Ap 2.6 22 9.4 55 26 9.2 18 26 27 4.6 8.6 14 11 4.6 24 9.4 24 7.8 300.6 AWS Merluna 10 29 20 85 28 6.4 20 11 14 12 9.0 27 19 28 18 22 0.0 23 371.4 Watson 0.0 20 16 74 33 14 29 13 38 9 21 9.0 20 5.0 13 19 0.0 - 333 River TM Aurukun 4.8 12 11 - 37 9.0 34 - 88 18 12 2.2 16 3.6 71 23 0.4 74 411.2 Scherger 2.8 12 12 124 34 16 6.4 12 14 21 23 11 54 30 3.0 17 20 63 472.4 RAAF AWS Weipa Ap 1.6 15 17 120 36 22 9.2 15 31 5.6 18 6.8 23 17 4.6 6.2 17 54 417.4 AWS 23 in 2 35 in 2 33 in 2 11 in 2 Weipa Town 23 136 39 20 - 21 14 20 22 74 448 days days days days Moreton TM 8.0 52 14 62 18 5.0 4.0 15 10 9.0 14 21 20 10 9.0 5.0 9.0 - 277 Moreton 11 50 26 52 20 6.0 6.0 13 - 7.0 16 22 20 25 8.0 - 11 23 305 Bramwell 11 23 52 64 46 11 18 19 14 11 26 8.0 13 16 33 2.8 41 - 397.8 Roadhouse Table 130. Summary of Western Cape York Peninsula Rivers daily rainfalls

An IFD analysis was conducted across the rainfalls recorded at locations within the Cape York Peninsula catchments for this event. The data for Lakeland Downs TM provided the most significant rainfall AEP values across the Cape York Peninsula with these results shown below in Figure 104 and Table 131.

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Figure 104. Lakeland Downs TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration plot

Chance of Peak depth Period From...... to occurring in any (mm) one year 1 minutes 2.0 2019-01-26 20:51 2019-01-26 20:52 > 63.2% 2 minutes 4.0 2019-02-04 15:25 2019-02-04 15:27 > 63.2% 3 minutes 5.0 2019-02-04 15:24 2019-02-04 15:27 > 63.2% 4 minutes 7.0 2019-02-04 15:25 2019-02-04 15:29 > 63.2% 5 minutes 9.0 2019-02-04 15:25 2019-02-04 15:30 50% – 63.2% 10 minutes 13.0 2019-02-04 15:24 2019-02-04 15:34 > 63.2% 15 minutes 15.0 2019-01-31 16:00 2019-01-31 16:15 > 63.2% 30 minutes 20.0 2019-01-31 15:46 2019-01-31 16:15 > 63.2% 1 hours 26.0 2019-01-26 07:48 2019-01-26 08:46 > 63.2% 2 hours 41.0 2019-01-26 07:00 2019-01-26 09:00 > 63.2% 3 hours 56.0 2019-01-26 05:46 2019-01-26 08:46 50% – 63.2% 6 hours 76.0 2019-01-26 03:00 2019-01-26 09:00 20% – 50% 12 hours 96.0 2019-01-26 02:45 2019-01-26 14:41 20% – 50% 24 hours 150.0 2019-01-25 21:00 2019-01-26 21:00 20% – 50% 2 days 189.0 2019-01-25 11:00 2019-01-27 11:00 20% – 50% 3 days 201.0 2019-01-24 16:00 2019-01-27 16:00 50% – 63.2% 4 days 205.0 2019-01-25 05:00 2019-01-29 05:00 > 63.2% 5 days 218.0 2019-01-25 22:00 2019-01-30 22:00 > 63.2% 6 days 249.0 2019-01-25 17:00 2019-01-31 17:00 50% – 63.2% 7 days 287.0 2019-01-25 18:00 2019-02-01 18:00 20% – 50%

Table 131. Lakeland Downs TM Rainfall Intensity–Frequency–Duration analysis

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Outlined below in Table 132, Table 133, Table 134 and Table 135 are the daily and weekly catchment averaged rainfall totals for river catchments on the east and west of the Cape York Peninsula. Rainfall totals at both the daily and weekly timescale across both areas were not found to be significant during this event.

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 20 April 2006 165.77 1 11 February 1949 157.54 2 23 January 2013 88.71 14 26 January 2019 65.77 46 Table 132. Eastern Cape York significant catchment rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 23 April 2006 383.69 1 24 April 2006 379.21 2 25 January 2013 290.73 30 31 January 2019 216.24 137 Table 133. Eastern Cape York significant catchment rainfall observations (weekly totals)

Date Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 17 February 1942 104.77 1 23 January 2013 84.34 2 19 March 2012 75.64 3 3 February 2019 42.94 93 Table 134. Western Cape York Peninsula Rivers significant rainfall observations (daily totals)

7 days ending Catchment total rainfall (mm) Overall rank 9 February 2014 367.91 1 18 February 1942 351.10 4 25 January 2013 297.71 10 5 February 2019 193.75 101 Table 135. Western Cape York Peninsula Rivers significant rainfall observations (weekly totals)

6.21.2 River Levels

Due to the sparse monitoring network across the Cape York Peninsula, determining the significance of river level rises and associated peaks is difficult. Although flood classifications are not defined for river height stations, a vast majority of the gauges are located close to crossings and can be referenced against crossing heights. This then provides an indication of the water level at a crossing and its immediate accessibility. Figure 105 is the hydrograph from Kalpowar Crossing on the Normanby River for this event and shows river levels exceeded the level of the crossing late in January and remained above the crossing level for at least one month, rising to a height of more than 7 m above the crossing level.

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Figure 105. Hydrograph of Normanby River at Kalpowar Crossing TM

The only station with flood classifications defined across the Cape York Peninsula is located at Kowanyama. The hydrograph for this event is shown below in Figure 106. Note this is a manual site so continuous data is not available for the entire event.

Figure 106. Hydrograph of the Mitchell River at Kowanyama Airport

The most significant peak recorded at each of the river height stations across the Cape York Peninsula catchments between 25 January and 18 February 2019 is listed in Table 136.

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The historical significance of each peak is also provided. Some records were broken during this event but in some areas, higher river levels were recorded during other periods of the 2018–19 severe weather season (October 2018-April 2019).

Date and Height Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record Time of Years of Station name of Peak class Rank Recorded Record (m) Minor Mod Major reached Ht (m) Date Peak

Pascoe River

Garraway Creek 25/01/2019 5.27 No flood classifications N/A 2 10 9.48 02/01/2019 TM 04:00 PM 25/01/2019 Fall Creek TM 6.41 No flood classifications N/A 2 11 12.01 02/01/2019 08:00 AM

Stewart River

25/01/2019 Stewart River TM 4.79 No flood classifications N/A 4 11 7.21 31/12/2018 10:01 AM

Hann River

04/02/2019 Hann River TM 4.70 No flood classifications N/A 1 10 NEW RECORD 01:00 PM

Normanby River

East Normanby 27/01/2019 10.62 No flood classifications N/A 10 8 NEW RECORD River TM 05:50 AM 28/01/2019 Battle Camp TM 17.30 No flood classifications N/A 3 51 18.53 20/03/1980 02:30 AM Kalpowar 12/02/2019 9.43 No flood classifications N/A 1 14 NEW RECORD Crossing TM 08:40 PM

Endeavour River

26/01/2019 Flaggy TM 7.47 No flood classifications N/A 6 49 11.55 08/04/1982 10:22 AM

Annan River

27/01/2019 Beesbike TM 7.70 No flood classifications N/A 3 29 10.27 13/03/1999 00:15 AM

Mitchell River

Kowanyama 10/02/2019 4.3 2 3 4 Major 5 20 4.47 Feb 2014 Airport 10:00 AM Cooktown 27/01/2019 10.03 No flood classifications N/A 1 8 NEW RECORD Crossing TM 09:30 AM 04/02/2019 Drumduff TM 8.43 No flood classifications N/A 4 8 11.55 Mar 2016 05:00 AM 06/02/2019 Dunbar TM 11.24 No flood classifications N/A 1 3 NEW RECORD 02:00 AM 10/02/2019 Gamboola TM 11.83 No flood classifications N/A 22 47 19.15 Feb 1999 08:10 AM Trimbles 10/02/2019 9.53 No flood classifications N/A 3 8 16.81 Jan 2011 Crossing TM 06:50 AM 10/02/2019 Ok Bridge TM 10.56 No flood classifications N/A 1 10 NEW RECORD 04:01 AM

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08/02/2019 Palmer River TM 8.57 No flood classifications N/A 5 51 10.16 Mar 1996 08:10 PM 26/01/2019 Mcleod River TM 9.13 No flood classifications N/A 1 3 NEW RECORD 11:00 PM

Height Date and Flood Classification (m) Flood Highest on record of Time of Years of Station name class Rank Peak Recorded Record reached (m) Peak Minor Mod Major Ht (m) Date

27/01/2019 Fonthill TM 8.81 No flood classifications N/A 2 3 8.83 Mar 2018 03:00 AM 05/02/2019 Rookwood TM 6.45 No flood classifications N/A 4 8 10.87 Jan 2011 11:00 AM 04/02/2019 Flatrock TM 6.32 No flood classifications N/A 2 4 10.12 Mar 2018 05:00 PM

Staaten River

05/02/2019 Dorunda TM 7.82 No flood classifications N/A 1 3 NEW RECORD 9:00 PM

Archer River

Coen 25/01/2019 4.87 No flood classifications N/A 33 40 10.42 Mar 1990 Racecourse TM 06:51 AM Telegraph 26/01/2019 12.17 No flood classifications N/A 56 50 19.22 Apr 1972 Crossing TM 02:00 AM

Watson River

28/01/2019 First Watson River TM 7.68 No flood classifications N/A 1 NEW RECORD 6:00 PM event

Table 136. Cape York Peninsula significant peak heights

Definitions for AL and TM are provided in the glossary at Appendix 1. Stations that did not report or report inconsistent river height data during the event have been excluded from the above table.

Note: all data provided to the Bureau at the time of publication has been utilised in this report. Sub-daily rainfall and complete river height data is available upon request using the following link: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data-services/data-requests.shtml.

The data and historical references outlined in this report are based on the information available to the Bureau at the time of publication and is primarily4 focussed on the riverine flood forecasting and warning services as outlined in the Service Level Specification.

The methodology used for the assessments made throughout Section 6 are outlined in Appendix 2.

4 It is important to note that there may be areas across the State that experienced impacts locally that have not been outlined in this report.

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7. Appendices

Appendix 1 – Glossary of terms and acronyms

Term Definition

The probability that a given rainfall total accumulated over a given duration will be exceeded in any one year. More information on AEPs can be found on the AEP Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/water/designRainfalls/index.shtml

ALERT radio telemetry which is a type of communication technology utilised in AL the field to communicate rainfall and river level observations in near-real time.

Average annual rainfall is calculated by adding rainfall totals over a specified period (for example 1961 to 1990) and dividing by the number of years in that Average annual rainfall period (30 years in this case). However, most of the annual averages at point based locations are calculated using "all years" and generally have more than 30 years of data.

AWRA-L is a daily 0.05° grid-based, distributed water balance model, conceptualised as a small unimpaired catchment. It simulates the flow of water through the landscape from the rainfall entering the grid cell through the vegetation and soil moisture stores and then out of the grid cell through AWRA-L evapotranspiration, runoff or deep drainage to the groundwater. More information on this service is available here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/water/landscape/

AWS Automatic weather station

Braided channels The name given to parts of catchments that do not have one defined channel and instead are connected via "braids" as they flow downstream. These sorts

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Term Definition

of braided channels are a common site in the far west and northwest of Queensland.

A set of resources which are maintained on the Bureau's website that outlines historical flood events, general flood behaviour and the flood warning services provided on a catchment basis across Queensland. These brochures can be Brochures accessed from the following location:

http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/index.shtml

The land area draining to a point of interest, such as a water storage or Catchment monitoring site on a watercourse.

Any precipitation that falls within a catchment (definition of a catchment provided above). The daily rainfall has been analysed at a grid resolution of 0.05 degrees, using all available daily grids since 1900. Averages are Catchment-average rainfall calculated for each catchment, using the grid cells that fall within that catchment. Weekly values are calculated by summing the seven daily values. For some regions, particularly in the early 1900s, poor spatial coverage of rainfall stations may result in an increased occurrence of zero rainfall totals.

Rainfall observations defined over a 24-hour period to 9am. More information Daily rainfall on rainfall observations can be found on the Bureau's website here: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/cdo/about/rain-measure.shtml

The name given to a group of catchment areas that when combined form a Drainage basin "drainage basin".

A defined period beginning when a hazard is first observed (or forecast) and Event (e.g. flood) dating until the primary (rainfall) or secondary (flood) hazard is no longer causing impact.

Flood classifications The Bureau uses a three-tiered classification scheme that defines flooding as minor, moderate or major at key river height stations. Each classification is

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Term Definition

defined by the water level that causes certain impacts upstream and downstream of the station. These levels have been determined based on standard descriptions of flood effects (see below), historical data and relevant local information. The classifications are revised from time to time by the Bureau’s partner agencies and affected communities.

Flood Warnings are issued by the Bureau to advise that flooding is occurring or expected to occur in a geographical area based on defined criteria. Flood Warnings may include either qualitative or quantitative predictions or may Flood warning (service) include a statement about future flooding that is more generalised. The type of prediction provided depends on the quality of real-time rainfall and river level data, the capability of rainfall and hydrological forecast models and the level of service required.

The Bureau issues a Flood Watch to provide early advice of a developing situation that may lead to flooding. A Flood Watch is not a warning of imminent flooding.

Flood watch (service) A Flood Watch provides information about a developing weather situation including forecast rainfall totals, catchments at risk of flooding, and indicative severity where required. The product also provides links to weather warnings, other Bureau flood-related products, and contact details and information of relevant emergency services

A defined area that provides a general forecast of weather conditions, rainfall, temperature, UV and winds for the forecast district. Includes location forecasts for major centres within the district and has a summary of the current weather patterns that are affecting the State. Designed for radio broadcasts, Forecast district newspaper, and for general public users. A map of Queensland forecast districts is available on the Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/forecasts/map.shtml

Forecast location A location that is provided a specific forecast in flood warning products. These locations and the service levels provided to them have been agreed to after

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Term Definition

consultation between the Bureau of Meteorology and local emergency services. A full list of forecast locations is provided in the Service Level Specification document outlined in the Glossary below.

The upper parts of a catchment area where rainfall can often be more intense Headwaters and more significant due to orographic enhancement and is often subject to flash flooding.

A hydrograph is a graph showing the rate of rise (height) versus time past a Hydrograph specific point in a river or channel.

IFDs are Intensity–Frequency–Duration design rainfall intensities (mm/h) or design rainfall depths (mm) corresponding to selected standard probabilities, based on the statistical analysis of historical rainfall. More information on IFDs IFD can be found on the Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/water/designRainfalls/index.shtml

Lower Soil Moisture estimate represents the percentage of available water content between 10 cm and 100 cm in the soil profile. More information on how Lower layer soil moisture this is calculated can be found on the Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/water/landscape/

Monsoons generally refer to a seasonal wind that generates widespread, persistent rainfall across a broad region. More information on monsoons and Monsoon (incl. trough) monsoon trough's can be found on the Bureau's external website here:

http://media.bom.gov.au/social/blog/2009/askbom-what-is-the-monsoon/

The purpose of the National Arrangements is to provide the Australian public National Arrangements and key stakeholders with a summary of how the provision of flood (doc) forecasting and warning service is arranged nationally. The National Arrangements outline the general roles and responsibilities of each level of government in providing and supporting an effective flood warning service

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Term Definition

and includes separate chapters describing the specific arrangements and agency roles that apply in each jurisdiction. The National Arrangements document can be found on the Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/water/floods/document/National_Arrangements_V4.pdf

A set of resources which are maintained on the Bureau's website that shows the monitoring network which is available to provide (at least daily) observations during flood events. Note data outages do occur and all locations outlined in Network maps these maps may not be available in every event. The flood warning network maps can be found on the Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/river_maps.shtml

The highest height recorded at a river height station during a defined "flood Peak (flood) event".

A piece of equipment located in a catchment area that can record rainfall Rain gauge/station observations. A wide variety of communications technology is also utilised to collect the data these stations are collecting.

A series of threshold values that divides a set of ordered data into 10 groups with an equal number of data points in each.

Rainfall deciles For example, consider a dataset of annual rainfall totals arranged in increasing order. The first decile is a value with 10% of the data below it and 90% above it. The eighth decile is a value with 80% of the data below it and 20% above it.

A river delta is a landform created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river as the flow leaves its mouth and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. River delta This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more rarely) another river that cannot carry away the supplied sediment.

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Term Definition

A piece of equipment located in a catchment area that can record river height River gauge/station observations. A wide variety of communications technology is also utilised to collect the data these stations are collecting.

Root Zone Soil Moisture is the sum of water in the AWRA-L Upper and Lower Root zone soil moisture soil layers and represents the percentage of available water content in the top 1 m of the soil profile.

Severe weather warnings are provided for potentially hazardous or dangerous weather that is not solely related to severe thunderstorms, tropical cyclones or bushfires. They are issued whenever severe weather is occurring in an area or is expected to develop or move into an area.

Severe thunderstorm Warnings are provided to warn communities of the threat Severe Weather and of dangerous thunderstorms. They are issued when a severe thunderstorm is Thunderstorm Warnings occurring or likely to occur.

For more information on Severe Weather and Thunderstorm warnings can be found on the Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/weather-services/severe-weather-knowledge- centre/warnings.shtml

The Standard Emergency Warning Signal (SEWS) is a distinctive audio signal that alerts the community to the broadcast of an urgent safety message relating to a major emergency. The Bureau may attach the SEWS to its SEWS warning products when there is a direct threat to life and property. http://www.emergencyalert.gov.au/frequently-asked-questions/what-is- emergency-alert/75-3-what-is-the-standard-emergency-warning-signal.html

The purpose of the Service Level Specification is to document and describe the SLS (doc) flood forecasting and warning services provided by the Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau) in Queensland. Similar documents are available across all other

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Term Definition

states and territories across Australia. The Queensland SLS can be found on the Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/QLD_SLS_current.pdf

SYN Synoptic rainfall/weather station

Rainfall observations that are collected on a timescale of shorter duration than Sub-daily rainfall daily (e.g. every hour).

TM Telemetry rainfall or river height station.

Tropical cyclones are low pressure systems that form over warm tropical waters and have gale force winds (sustained winds of 63 km/h or greater and gusts in excess of 90 km/h) near the centre. If a tropical low is not producing winds significant enough it is classified as a Tropical Low rather than Tropical Cyclone. Tropical cyclone/low More information on Tropical Lows and Cyclones can be found on the Bureau's website here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/about/

Upper soil moisture estimate represents the percentage of available water Upper layer soil moisture content in the top 10 cm of the soil profile.

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Appendix 2 – Assessment methodology

The following section outlines the assessment methodology that was used throughout the report to calculate the individual station IFDs, the catchment average rainfall totals and also the peak height historical references.

Individual rainfall station IFD analysis

Estimates of the rainfall intensities and exceedance probabilities have been made using the 2016 Australia Rainfall and Runoff IFD data. IFD design rainfall curves range from 1 minute to 7 days in duration and are reported with their associated Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) for the particular duration. AEP is the probability that a given rainfall total for a given duration will be exceeded in any one year. More information on the IFD tool that was used in this report click on the following link: http://www.bom.gov.au/water/designRainfalls/index.shtml

Catchment average rainfall analysis

The daily area average rainfall over the catchment, analysed at a grid resolution of 0.05 degrees, using all available daily grids since 1900. For some regions, particularly during the early period, poor spatial coverage of rainfall stations may result in an increased occurrence of zero rainfall totals. The catchment average rainfall has been contextualised to the overall historic daily record and also the consecutive seven day record.

The daily rainfall has been analysed at a grid resolution of 0.05 degrees, using all available daily grids since 1900. Averages are calculated for each catchment, using the grid cells that fall within that catchment. Weekly values are calculated by summing the seven daily values. For some regions, particularly in the early 1900s, poor spatial coverage of rainfall stations may result in an increased occurrence of zero rainfall totals.

Peak height analysis

Tables of peak river heights from the flood event with the maximum severity (minor, moderate and major – if defined), as well as how these levels relate to the historic data for these stations have been provided. The Bureau stores a large library of peak heights for all river height stations across the state however it is possible that this list is not exhaustive. The Bureau will look to update this library whenever new data is presented.

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Appendix 3 – Queensland Government Usage Agreement

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You are free to use copyright material available on or through this website that is covered by a CC BY licence in line with the licence terms. You must keep the copyright notice on the copyright material and attribute the State of Queensland as the source of the copyright material.

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Website material not available under a Creative Commons licence • the government coat of arms or government logos • trade-mark protected material • intellectual property (including copyright) owned by third parties • material available under other specified licences.

Linked material available on other Queensland Government websites A user of this website who uses the links provided to another Queensland Government agency’s website and material available on or through there, acknowledges and agrees that the terms of use, including licence terms, set out on the other agency’s website apply to the use that may be made of those materials.

Disclaimer As far as practicable, material for which the copyright is owned by a third party will be clearly labelled. The Queensland Government has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that this material has been reproduced with the consent of the copyright owners.

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