{"id":541029,"date":"2026-03-15T01:35:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T01:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/541029\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T01:35:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T01:35:18","slug":"floodwaters-spread-into-longreach-outskirts-with-peak-expected-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/541029\/","title":{"rendered":"Floodwaters spread into Longreach outskirts with peak expected today"},"content":{"rendered":"

After days of anticipation, floodwaters in western Queensland have reached the outskirts of Longreach.<\/p>\n

The Thomson River is at major level, but did not rise as high as anticipated overnight, with the Landsborough Highway west towards Winton reopened early Sunday after being closed 12-hours earlier as a precaution.<\/p>\n

Waters have been slow-moving in their spread towards town, with the current height falling short of the major flood level of 6.95 metres seen in the all-time high of February 2000.<\/p>\n

\"houses<\/p>\n

Floodwaters have reached the edge of town, but have not yet entered homes.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Jay Carstens)<\/p>\n

Angus Hines from the Bureau of Meteorology said the river reached 6.07 metres overnight with a peak expected today likely to come in under the levels seen 26 years ago.<\/p>\n

“The current forecast peak is still a fair way off. It’s expected to get to about 6.7 metres. There’s a chance that it might come in just a little bit under that,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Tony Rayner said early inspections showed water in channels and drains, but homes had not been impacted.<\/p>\n

“We’re starting to think the peak may not be as high as forecast, which is a good thing,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

A Longreach resident checks out floodwaters around the town.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Heidi Sheehan)<\/p>\n

“The water didn’t go over [the Landsborough Highway], it’s certainly high but we’ve got a fair bit of leeway.”<\/p>\n

For curious residents who spent much of Saturday taking in the view of the river slowly swelling, Cr Rayner said there would be more sights to take today.<\/p>\n

“I think everyone will enjoy the drive today to see the inland ocean surrounding Longreach… it’s a favourite pastime when it’s a safe flood..” he said.<\/p>\n

\"kangaroo<\/p>\n

Kangaroo hops around the edge of floodwaters near Longreach.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Heidi Sheehan)<\/p>\n

“The good thing coming out of this is it will shape up to be an excellent tourist season.”Days-long preparation<\/p>\n

The fast-moving water travelled more than 100 kilometres downstream, after heavy falls around Aramac and Muttaburra a week ago.<\/p>\n

Will Lake Eyre set another record?<\/a><\/p>\n

In the centre of Australia, there are whispers that Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is experiencing conditions strangely similar to those that set a record depth of 6 metres in 1974.<\/p>\n

It gave residents in Longreach ample time to prepare for potential upset as the waters reached nearer to homes.<\/p>\n

Julie Lucas moved to the outback from the Sunshine Coast at the beginning of the year and said she had been shocked by how the flood had unfolded.<\/p>\n

\"Sandbags<\/p>\n

The town’s sandbag station will remain open for residents to shore up their homes and businesses. (ABC Western Qld: Jay Carstens)<\/p>\n

“There was no water two days ago. I went for a look twice [yesterday] and was really surprised at how high it increased in two and a half hours,” she said.<\/p>\n

It may be her first experience with flooding of this kind, but Ms Lucas said the local council had helped to ensure the community was well prepared.<\/p>\n

“The property I’m in actually went under [in 2000], there was water right through this area, so I’m keeping that in mind with my preparations,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Ms Lucas says she feels prepared after days of anticipation that flooding may reach the township.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Jay Carstens\u00a0)<\/p>\n

“On the coast, you get rain and all of a sudden the creeks will be up, out here, the longevity, the lead in \u2026 it’s been the talk of the town.”\"Sunrise<\/p>\n

The river is expected to continue rising today, pushing floodwaters closer to the town. (ABC Western Qld: Emily Dobson)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After days of anticipation, floodwaters in western Queensland have reached the outskirts of Longreach. The Thomson River is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,268069,18630,1194,268070,44,268068],"class_list":["post-541029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-backyards","tag-flooding","tag-homes","tag-landsborough-highway","tag-news","tag-thomson-river"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}