Sharing the road to adventure

Stranded campers rescued, but weather now improving

Not good ... but not as bad as initially feared. PIC: Japan Meteorological Agency / NASA

April 5, 2021

Grey nomads and others still camping in Queensland will probably be breathing something of a sigh of relief as the Bureau of Meteorology has now cancelled severe weather warnings for intense rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding.

Campers from Seventeen Seventy to Bribie Island were warned late yesterday that their ‘window of opportunity’ to pack up and leave had passed as a subtropical low hit the region and a severe weather warning was issued.

However, the system that experts had feared would move across the southeast coast has instead drifted away.

But many campers still endured a very uncomfortable night.

One group required rescuing from rising floodwaters at Byfield National Park, north of Yeppoon. The 11 campers and a dog needed immediate help after rising water around their campground left them stranded late yesterday.

However, BOM Meteorologist David Grant told the Courier-Mail that the peak period of severe weather had now probably passed.

“The higher end impacts and the high-risk flooding that was being predicted yesterday, that now seems to be diminishing,” he said. “The main hazardous risk at the moment is going to be our hazardous surf conditions.”

He warned though that there was still a risk of locally damaging wind gusts, and he told the Courier-Mail that strong to near gale force winds were being seen about locations such as Moreton Island, the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Island.

Meteorologists say the low is expected to mostly clear from tomorrow and especially getting into mid next week.