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Bureau of Meteorology Issues Initial Flood Watch

An Initial Flood Watch has been issued for coastal catchments between Gladstone and the New South Wales Border.

The first flood watch, issued by the Bureau of Meteorology this morning, indicates that minor flooding across a large swathe of catchments, including Pine and Caboolture Rivers and their tributaries, is possible.

The Bureau released a video yesterday, detailing the impacts, with Southern States, New South Wales and Victoria, likely to experience the worst of the impacts.

Parts of Queensland will begin to see the effects of the trough from Sunday and into Monday. Rainfall during the past week has primed local catchments for future level rises.

Widespread 24 hour rainfall totals of 30-70mm are possible about coastal catchments south of Gladstone during Sunday and Monday. Isolated heavier falls in the range of 80-180mm are possible each day, these fall are expected from severe thunderstorms embedded in the trough. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings will be issued by the Bureau of Meteorology during the event as required. You can view all Queensland warnings here.

IF IT’S FLOODED, FORGET IT!!!

The warning is as follows:

IDQ20900

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland

Initial Flood Watch for coastal catchments between Gladstone and the New South Wales Border

Issued at 11:12 am EST on Friday 1 December 2017

Flood Watch Number: 1

Minor flooding is possible across the Flood Watch area.

A trough system and an associated band of showers and storms will move into the southwest of the state during Friday, shifting gradually eastwards across the state during the weekend. The associated band of showers and storms will likely clear the coast on Tuesday.

Rainfall during the past week has wetted up some coastal catchments meaning river level rises are likely.

Widespread 24 hour rainfall totals of 30-70mm are possible about coastal catchments south of Gladstone during Sunday and Monday.

Isolated heavier falls in the range of 80-180mm are possible each day with severe thunderstorms. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings will be issued during the event as required.

Minor flooding is possible across the Flood Watch area and isolated heavy rainfall may lead to localised flooding.

Rainfall totals and river level rises are expected to be significantly lower than those experienced in the Wide Bay catchments in October, and certainly nothing comparable to the widespread rainfall and flooding seen in Cyclone Debbie.

The Flood Watch area will be refined as the location of the heaviest rainfall becomes more certain.

Catchments likely to be affected include:

Calliope River
Boyne River
Baffle Creek
Kolan River
Burnett River
Burrum and Cherwell Rivers
Mary River
Noosa River
Sunshine Coast Rivers and Creeks
Pine and Caboolture Rivers
Upper Brisbane River
Lower Brisbane River
(Tributaries of the lower Brisbane River only.)
Logan and Albert Rivers
Gold Coast Rivers and Creeks

See www.bom.gov.au/qld/warnings to view the current flood warnings for Queensland.

Flood Safety Advice:

This Flood Watch means that people living or working along rivers and creeks should monitor the latest weather forecasts and warnings.

Remember: If it’s flooded, forget it.

For flood emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.

For life threatening emergencies, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.

Current emergency information is available at www.qld.gov.au/alerts.

This advice is also available by dialling 1300 659 219 at a low call cost of 27.5 cents, more from mobile, public and satellite phones.

Warning, rainfall and river information are available at www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/

December 1, 2017 | mandah

Community News & Views

Parts of Lake Kurwongbah to re-open for Recreational Activities

As of Saturday 2 December 2017, paddlers and club skiers will been given access to the lake every day of the week.

There will be separate zones on the lake: an area for skiing and an area for paddling. Club rowing will also continue on the designated rowing course. For your safety, and the safety of others, do not paddle or ski outside the designated zone for that activity. Paddlers and skiers must give way to rowers at all times. Skiers must also give way to paddlers.

An additional paddle craft wash down facility and launch point have also been established and designated at Mick Hanfling Park. All recreation users are required to wash their water craft to help prevent the spread of aquatic weeds.

Current arrangements will remain in place up to and including Friday 1 December 2017. The new arrangements will commence from 5:30am on Saturday 2 December 2017.

For more information visit www.seqwater.com.au/recreation

November 29, 2017 | mandah

Labor Paints the Moreton Bay Region Red

Final election counts are still being tallied but it’s becoming clear that the ALP has a stronghold in the Moreton Bay Region and Queensland as a whole.

Six of the nine seats that are within the boundaries of the Moreton Bay Region has been won or retained by Labor candidates.

Pine Rivers – Nikki Boyd (ALP)

Kurwongbah – Shane King (ALP)

Murrumba – Steven Miles (ALP)

Bancroft – Chris Whiting (ALP)

Redcliffe – Yvette D’Ath (ALP)

Morayfield – Mark Ryan (ALP)

Pumicestone – Micheal Hoogwaerts (ALP) and Simone Wilson (LNP) are running a very tight race. It could be a long wait to hear the results for this seat.

Everton – Tim Mander (LNP) holds the lead over David Greene (ALP).

Glass House – Andrew Powell (LNP) has the lead over Brent Hampstead (ALP).

November 26, 2017 | mandah

The new “call-back” phone scam hits

Three nights ago, Australians started receiving calls all the way from Cameroon in Central Africa.

Calls were very short allowing practically no opportunity to answer them. Welcome to the call-back scam or as it became known in New Zealand in April this year, the Wangiri scam. Meaning “one ring and cut”.

One of Mackay’s very own police officers received this call in the very early hours of the morning two night’s ago.

This phone scam is so very easy to avoid once you know how it works. Here’s what you need to know:

You receive a call which is almost impossible to answer at an inconvenient time. You later identify the missed call – your curiosity peaks. You have a decision to make, do I call the number back or not? Many decide to call back – hence the scam name.
The scammers establish themselves in locations where they can receive the highest possible yield for their international premium rate number (known as a toll number). This means that the revenue made from your international call to their newly set up phone number is shared between the telephone company and the scammers.
The rates charged for these return international calls are the highest possible you could imagine. Prepaid users often find themselves with little to no credit left afterwards, other phone users only identify the damage incurred when they receive their next phone bill. Charges incurred during your call back are extremely excessive.
To make it worse – if you decide to call back this number, the person who answers your call will do every thing in their power to ensure you stay on the line for as long as possible. People have been told in these call backs that they have won large sums of money, that a family member has died or has been seriously injured – they have even been exposed to conversations of a sexual nature, all in an effort to keep them on the phone for as long as possible – ever increasing the cost to the victim.
If you have received a call from this process, your details or your phone number have not been compromised. It is believed that the process of identifying phone numbers is an automated process – with every possible phone number combination being identified and called.
It is expected that very large numbers of these scam calls could be made as a result.

In simpler terms, the scam only works if people call the number back linked to the missed call. If you identify this number from Cameroon as a missed call on your phone – do not call it back. Please understand that the scammers are likely to use different locations and different numbers. The same rules apply – don’t call back international numbers that you do not recognise.

Police are also warning people of a current smishing scam offering you the chance to win a Woolworths gift card if you reply with your personal details. The SMS message even refers to you by your name or nickname.

Smishing is a security attack in which the user is tricked into downloading a Trojan horse, virus or other malware onto their phone or other mobile device. Do not reply to message from unknown callers, confirm details of companies via legitimate sources and never respond to anything immediately.

Another scam involves getting users to click on a video link (either via email or SMS). It may try to lure you by suggesting the video is about you or involves you in some way. Never click on links in emails or messages sent to you by unknown sources.

Remember, you can report scams through A.C.O.R.N. (Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network) here.

To keep up to date with circulating scams, visit Scamwatch here.

If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.

You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, by calling 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day.

Words: Senior Constable Steve Smith

November 3, 2017 | mandah

Lake Kurwongbah Temporarily Closed for Water Activities

Lake Kurwongbah has been temporarily closed to primary contact (in water) activities such as water skiing, jet skiing and tubing due to the high levels of bacteria detected during routine testing.

The cause of the increase in bacteria numbers is not yet known. The closure is a precautionary measure in the interest of public safety. Exposure to the bacteria could result in gastroenteritis-like symptoms.

We are performing regular water quality testing and will re-open Lake Kurwongbah to in water activities as soon as possible.

Please follow the direction of staff and signage on-site.

For more information visit www.seqwater.com.au/recreation

October 23, 2017 | mandah

Stay water safe these School Holidays

Do you know how to use your safety equipment?

This is the message Queensland Water Police will be asking the thousands of boaties that will be heading out on waterways these school holidays.

With a large number of different brands and types of safety equipment now available to boat owners, it is important to take the time to understand how to operate and use these life saving devices before you hit the water.

Senior Sergeant Thiry said people should spend to spend 5 to 10 minutes reading and recognising how their safety equipment functions before they head out for the holidays.

“Having a good knowledge of how to put on a life jacket or activate a distress flare before the need arises is a necessary skill for anyone on the water,” he said.

“It’s also a good time to check your equipment is in good condition and hasn’t reached its expiry date.”

“A number of Water Police operations will run from 16 September to 1 October across the state, targeting marine safety, drugs and alcohol offences. Joint patrols will also be conducted with other government agencies to ensure safety of everyone on the water.”

A few other things to remember that might save your life.

• Always check your vessel, engine/s and boat trailer before leaving home.

• Tell someone where you are going and when you are returning in case something goes wrong, this way Water Police will then know where to start looking. This means telling family or friends, a local Volunteer Marine Rescue group or Coast Guard where you will be on the water, before you head off and update them if things change.

• Check the forecast weather, a bright sunny morning could change over the course of the day.

• Most importantly, make sure everyone on your boat knows how to use all the safety equipment in the event of an emergency.

• For boats requiring an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon), make sure it is registered with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and your details are up to date. Click the link for further details http://beacons.amsa.gov.au/registration/index.asp

“Remember – Be safe on the water these holidays.”

September 19, 2017 | mandah

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