Floods return to Queensland town

Press, 25 June 1983, Page 8

Floods return to Queensland town

NZPA Brisbane The Queensland border township of Dirranbandi, 670 km west of Brisbane, was yesterday isolated by floodwaters from the swollen Balonne River, for the second time in less than a month. The State Emergency Service’s acting director, Mr Alan Windsor, said that properties in the area were still affected by last month’s drenching when they were again hit by torrential rain and flooding this week. Some properties would have been isolated for more than seven weeks by the time the effects of this week’s rain cleared up —

about another fortnight, Mr Windsor said. Last month, 10 days of steady rain in Queensland’s central and south-western districts isolated many properties and towns, including Dirranbandi. Flood warnings were issued for the Condamine, Balonne and Maranoa rivers as the run-off from four days of torrential rain continued to make its presence felt. Cecil Plains, west of Toowoomba, was isolated, and food drops will continue to Tara, south of Chinchilla, Mr Windsor said. At Gympie, the police said a big clean-up was well

under way after floodwaters had entered some business premises. Water was still across one bridge in the town but most roads had reopened. The deluge has severely battered some of the state’s most popular beaches. A Gold Coast City Council spokesman said yesterday that Narrowneck and Kirra beaches were among the worst hit, with three-metre sheer sand cliffs gouged out. The New South Wales north coast was slowly recovering from the floods. The rain-swollen Wilson and Richmond rivers had isolated many outlying districts for several days.