South East Queensland
9.6 Overbank flood return to river channel

This process occurs in the South East Queensland (SEQ) region, but the volume could not be quantified in a way that is complete, neutral and free from material error due to the lack of both data and a suitable quantification approach.

Flash flooding was reported at Mudgeeraba in Gold Coast and 75 mm of rainfall in 35 minutes was reported at Beaudesert. Ex-tropical cyclone Oswald tracked along the east coast of Australia during last week of January 2013 and significant flooding occurred along the east coast of Queensland including South East Queensland (SEQ) region, specifically in Ipswich, Laidley, Brisbane, Beenleigh, and Eagleby. The rainfalls recorded on 26 and 27 January 2013 at Savages Crossing on the Brisbane River (Station 143001C) (Queensland Government 2014) were 48 and 100 mm respectively, which caused high water levels in most of the rivers in the SEQ region. The flooding was most severe in the Laidley Creek where the water levels reached 8.95 metres on 27 January 2013. Many of the catchments in the SEQ region exceeded the flood levels reached during the 2010–11 floods, including the Logan and Albert rivers. The flood levels in Brisbane and Bremer rivers were less than 2010–11 floods but were higher than the 1975 flood event (Bureau of Meteorology 2013b). Specifically during this period, the streamflows were significantly high in the major rivers in the SEQ region and inflows into the storages were remarkable.