PM Submission - Thomas Kearney - MCU18/0015

Deluge causes havoc in region
m.noosanews.com.au

Noosa Hill was on the slide again after taking a battering from a rain-sodden trough
which dumped more than 250mm in just one night.

The heavy rain caused the hillside to slip along Noosa Drive down near the Noosa Heads
Lions Park on Saturday, forcing a road closure for hours until work crews removed the
sand and debris.

More heavy rain bucketed down on Sunday, sparking more problems at the slip site, but
traffic was flowing freely yesterday morning.

The Noosa Coast Guard Sea Lions crew was kept busy on Saturday morning, refloating
five sunken vessels from Munna Point, Harbour Town, in Noosa Waters and upstream
from the Noosa Yacht Club.

"In some cases the sheer volume of rain either overwhelmed the bilge pumps and the
batteries were flattened or the vessels weren't covered or fitted with an automatic bilge
pump," Sea Lions skipper Pat Odore said.

"A couple of boats tied to fixed jetties capsized when the jetties went under water. The
water inside the vessel from the rain helped push their gunnels under water when they
were held down by the jetty.

The rescue at Munna Point next to the Coast Guard base was particularly tricky as the
crew battled a strong incoming tide against strong south easterly winds.

"The boat was upside down and was being pushed by the tide under its pontoon. We
were very concerned that on the outgoing tide the boat would have been trapped under
the pontoon with the potential of major damage to the vessel and the pontoon," Mr Odore
said.

"With this jetty close to ours there was little room to manoeuvre our vessels and we had
to resort to manpower to do the job."

With more rain forecast, Coast Guard Noosa commander Tony Taylor urged all boaties to
check their vessels.

Emergency staff were kept busy checking the roadways in Noosa with Doonan Bridge
Road still closed on Monday after the deluge. At Eumundi, Eumundi Noosa Road was
closed during the weekend but water levels had subsided by yesterday.