By Margaret Maccoll
A weekend of heavy rain, gale force winds, abnormally high tides and hazardous surf had surfers heading for the national park, the SES fielding calls, turtle carers relocating nests and holiday makers hitting the shops and jumping through puddles on Gympie Terrace.
While beaches were closed to swimmers across the coast.The Bureau of Meteorology issued multiple warnings of severe weather “generated by a coastal trough off the southeast coast and a slow-moving upper low over the southeast“ combined with high tides due to spring tides, winds and rainfall.
SES local controller Warren Kuskoph said their main call outs had been for tree branches falling on houses at Noosa Heads, Cooroy, Pomona and Eumundi as well as leaves blocking up guttering, causing water to flood into houses.
In one instance in Noosa Heads a neighbour’s tree had gone over with a branch making a metre wide hole in a roof, he said. “We’ve gone out there and tarped it,“ he said.
Trees also came down across roads at Louie Bazzo Drive, Cootharaba and Sunshine Beach Road and Cooloosa Street at Sunshine Beach and knocked down powerlines in Pomona and Cooroy.
“Most trees that have fallen down have fallen away from houses,“ Warren said. “We’ve been lucky.“
There was minor flooding of the Noosa River with water over Gympie Terrace, Noosaville in some places.
