Herbert River

This brochure describes the flood risk and previous flooding in the Herbert River catchment, last updated in July 2025.

Flood Risk

Since records commenced in the early 1900s, major floods have occurred regularly in the Herbert River. Significant floods include 1967, 1977, 2009, 2018, December 2023, and February 2025.

In 2025, an active monsoon trough and several tropical lows produced a prolonged period of heavy rainfall over parts of northern Queensland between 27 January and 12 February. Major flooding occurred at Gleneagle, Abergowrie Bridge, Ingham Pump Station, Gairloch, and Halifax.

In 2023, Tropical Cyclone Jasper crossed the North Queensland coast as a Category 2 system on Wednesday evening 13 December near Wujal Wujal, bringing widespread heavy rain. Tropical Cyclone Jasper transitioned to a tropical low after making landfall and then moved slowly west over Cape York Peninsula before becoming near stationary over the northern Gulf Country. Linked to ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper, a coastal trough developed and brought further widespread heavy to locally intense rainfall across the North Queensland coast. The Herbert River catchment recorded rainfall totals between 203 mm and 521 mm for the period 13 to 17 December 2023. The heaviest day of rainfall was 16 December, though rainfall totals varied significantly across the catchment. Major flood peaks occurred at Ingham Pump Station and Halifax.

At Gleneagle, the highest recorded flood peak is 19 m on 14 March 1967. Manual observations were not available in December 2023 or February 2025 for the official Gleneagle forecast location. However, major flooding is estimated to have occurred during the February 2025 event. The February 2025 peak is expected to have been well below the 1967 record flood level as rainfall over the upper catchment was more significant in 1967 relative to the 2025 event.

At Abergowrie Bridge, a Major flood peak of 16.5 m was recorded on 2 February 2025, which was the highest peak at this location since 16.8 m on 9 March 2018. The highest recorded flood peak at the current Abergowrie Bridge gauge is 17.24 m in February 2009. The highest recorded flood peak at the old Abergowrie Bridge manual gauge is 20.65 m on 14 March 1967, though flood levels may not relate to those at the current gauge.

At Ingham Pump Station, Major flood peaks recorded were 14.93 m on 3 February 2025 (the 4th highest peak on available records) and 12.6 m on 17 December 2023. The highest recorded flood peak is 15.2 m on 14 March 1967.

At Gairloch, a Major flood peak of 12.54 m was recorded at the Alert gauge (official forecast location) on 2 February 2025. The highest reliable flood peak recorded at the Gairloch manual gauge is 12.6 m in March 1967.

At Halifax, a Major flood peak of 5.66 m was recorded on 2 February 2025, which is the 2nd highest peak on available records. A prolonged Major flood peak of 5.47 m was recorded from 5:30 pm on 17 December to 6:00 am on 18 December 2023. The highest recorded flood peak is 5.67 m in February 2009.

Flood Event	Gleneagle	Abergowrie Bridge	Ingham Pump Station	Gairloch	Halifax
Mar 1967	19.00	20.65*	15.20	12.60	-
Feb 2009	14.4	17.24	14.75	12.25	5.67
Mar 2018	-	16.80	14.52	-	5.57
Dec 2023	-	13.14	12.60	11.44	5.47
Feb 2025	-	16.5	14.93	12.54	5.66

 

All heights are in metres on flood gauges.