Brisbane boaties warned to keep off the water
by Jeni Bone on 13 Jan 2011
A 130m piece of concrete walkway could have ripped through boats, ships and anything else in its way. SW
Boaties in Brisbane and on Moreton Bay are being warned to keep out of the water, with the flow hitting 20 knots, debris such as dead animals, logs, household items, concrete pontoons, pieces of road way and even other boats posing a threat to lives and property.
At a media briefing this afternoon, Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said the volume of debris going down the river into Moreton Bay made the waterways 'very unsafe'.
'That will continue. It's simply impossible to prevent that from occurring while this extremely large volume of water is flowing down the Brisbane River,' he said.
Today, a 300-tonne, 310m piece of concrete walkway broke off at New Farm and sped down the flooded river, under the Gateway Bridge. Tug boats caught up with the missile, guided it safely down the river and secured it at Nudgee Beach.
A cruising party boat and the Moggill ferry had to be secured and both are being monitored. Police say that if the party boat poses any subsequent threat with the next high tide early tomorrow morning, they will be forced to destroy the vessel and sink it.
Management at the Wivenhoe Dam – currently at 187% - is planning to release catchment and flood mitigation water gradually over the next seven days until the dam is back to the 100% level and the flood tank is empty.
Around 301,000 megalitres per day (enough for 130,000 Olympic size swimming pools!) will be let out of the five gates, and authorities say they are confident this water will not add to the water volumes in Brisbane.
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