Heavy rain, thunderstorms and large hail forecast for northern New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland have emergency crews on stand-by on New Year’s Eve.
A wild weather system is forecast to stretch more than 1000km from Port Macquarie to Rockhampton.
The focus on Sunday will be on the area from Charters Towers to Emerald in northern Queensland.
Weather bureau senior meteorologist Jonathan How urged residents to stay on top of flood warnings.
“At this stage, we’re not expecting widespread flooding but areas of heavy rain with thunderstorms could produce flash flooding as well as rapid rises in creeks, rivers and storm drains,” he said.
Strong wind warnings have been issued for the Byron Coast in NSW and several coastal areas in Western Australia including eastern and western Pilbra, Perth, Bunbury, Leeuwin, Esperance and Eucla.
On Saturday, wind gusts reached 93km/h at Gympie, while 64mm of rain fell at Cedar Pocket Dam in Queensland.
The Sunshine Coast was also hammered by rain, with Beerburrum recording 110mm in two hours and Landsborough 67mm in 30 minutes.
Crews have confirmed four houses in the state’s southeast were “completely destroyed” and 750 homes had suffered minor to severe damage in storms since Christmas, Deputy Premier Cameron Dick told reporters in Jimboomba on Sunday.
He said there had been 3000 calls to the State Emergency Service since the night of the 25th and about 18,000 people around the state were still waiting for power to be reconnected.
“We’ve got crews out cleaning the streets trying to get that debris cleared so we can get the power crews in,” Mr. Dick said.
Up to 70 defence force veterans and retired emergency service personnel are assisting the storm cleanup in southeast Queensland.
They have been deployed to the worst affected areas including northern Gold Coast, Tamborine Mountain and Jimboomba to remove fallen trees, clear debris, stabilise buildings and improve access to homes.
Severe weather between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day resulted in 10 deaths in Queensland and Victoria, among them a nine-year-old girl lost in a stormwater drain.
NSW SES crews were kept busy, responding to 473 calls for help and conducting six flood rescues across the Christmas weekend.
