Thousands of people living near rivers and creeks in south-east Queensland have been warned to seek shelter or find high ground, amid concern about more flash flooding in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
More than 230,000 households and businesses are still without power, as heavy rain continued on Sunday night and into Monday morning.
Emergency alerts have been issued for river and creek catchments in the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan, Ipswich and Lockyer Valley areas. Some people have been advised to move to higher ground, or to seek shelter, and that water levels could rise quickly.
The alerts relate to the Enogerra, Oxley and Gubberley creeks in Brisbane; the Upper Oxley Creek and Albert River in Logan; the Albert and Logan Rivers, Tallebudgera Creek and Currumbin Creek on the Gold Coast.
Residents of the town of Laidley in the Lockyer Valley – which was badly inundated in the 2011 and 2022 floods – were advised about the potential for dangerous flooding on Saturday night.
In Brisbane, which has now flooded badly four times in 15 years, impacts from flooding have been mostly concentrated about suburban creeks, rather than the Brisbane River.
Rosalie Village, which has gone under in repeated major flood events, remains largely unaffected on Monday morning. But other parts of the city have gone under, similar to in 2022, when the city’s creeks overflowed.
Enogerra Dam, which feeds the Enogerra / Breakfast creek catchment running through Brisbane’s northern suburbs, was at 240% capacity on Monday and water flowing above the spillway. Downstream water levels peaked about midnight, but authorities are watching closely to see if the tides spike again.
State Emergency Service rescue teams have spent most of Monday morning searching through dozens of cars, many caught as the water peaked overnight, checking to ensure no one is inside.
“If you are near flood waters get up as high as you can where you are,” Queensland police said on Monday morning.
In northern New South Wales, where one person has died, rain is falling, roads remain closed and people have been warned not to drive through high water.
About 1,800 people have been isolated by the deluge and a further 18,500 have been told they could be isolated.
Across the state’s north-east, 20,300 people have been told to evacuate.
At the weekend some residents were allowed to return to their homes in places such as Lismore as conditions eased.
“We’re not out of the woods just yet,” a NSW State Emergency Service assistant commissioner Sean Kearns said on Monday.
“The predicted risk of heavy rain to continue throughout Monday and possibly into Tuesday will only exacerbate this risk.”
When Alfred made landfall in Queensland on Saturday, Malcolm Drysdale compared it to being “flogged quietly by wet lettuce”.
But as he trudged around rising flood waters, Drysdale knew the weather system packed a mighty punch.
But Drysdale is relatively unfazed by flooding after moving to Rocklea, a suburb in Brisbane’s south notorious for inundation.
His family hails from an area outside Lismore, which went through devastating flooding in 2022.
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“My mum went to Richmond River high school, which no longer exists because the river took it to pieces in 2022,” Drysdale said.
“I am no stranger to flooding, nor is anyone in my family. People around here in Rocklea are the same.”
Drysdale bunkered down on Saturday when Alfred crossed the coast.
“Wind-wise it was a bit of a non-event, a bit like being flogged quietly by wet lettuce,” he said.
But winds picked up again the next night before more wild weather triggered widespread flooding.
“There’s a few more trees down than I first thought,” Drysdale said as he waded through high water.
“It’s always going to flood here … but it does get a bit hairy at times.”
Anthony Albanese was in Lismore on Monday. The prime minister flew into Brisbane on Sunday as flooding shut down a Queensland community and falling trees destroyed homes and cars.
Residents at Hervey Bay, 300km north of Brisbane, were told to stay inside under an emergency declaration after almost 250mm of rain fell in hours, triggering flash flooding.
Parts of Gold Coast received an emergency warning late on Sunday, with communities told to “take action now” and stay off the roads.
About 30 rescues took place across Queensland’s south-east and northern NSW at the weekend.
Some were not so fortunate. The body of a 61-year-old man was found after his ute was swept into flood waters at Megan, near Dorrigo in NSW, on Friday.
Thirteen soldiers were injured after two trucks rolled near Lismore on Saturday. One remained in a stable condition in hospital.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, said the circumstances of the accident were being investigated.
Read more of Guardian Australia’s Tropical Cyclone Alfred coverage:
