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Friday, January 6, 2012

Six new rainfall gauges for the Moreton Bay Region #4OURnews


Moreton Bay Regional Council will install six new river-height and rainfall monitoring gauges within the region, as the weather bureau reveals 2011 was one of the wettest years on record.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued its annual weather summary for 2011 and its monthly summary for December.
In a year characterised by heavy rainfall, the bureau recorded the highest rainfall (162.2mm) in the Brisbane area for the month of December 2011 at the Redcliffe automatic weather station in the region.
Moreton Bay Regional Council continues to monitor and analyse weather conditions, forecasts and outlooks to enhance local disaster management planning and preparation.
Mayor Allan Sutherland said $300,000 in State Government grant funding would fund the devices, enhancing real-time flood warnings and storm-tide information available to council. 
"The gauges will be added to Station Creek, Elimbah Creek, the Caboolture River, King John Creek, Todds Gully and Lagoon Creek in coming months,” the Mayor said.
"Council will provide the Bureau of Meteorology with direct access to the new gauges as part of our coordinated approach to disaster management at the local, district and state level.
“When installed, the gauges will take the total number of river-height and rainfall monitoring stations to more than twenty in the Moreton Bay Region."
Mayor Sutherland said the State Government’s funding would assist council in providing high-quality information, flood warnings and disaster management advice to the community.
“The new devices will complement a number of other disaster management activities already undertaken by Moreton Bay Regional Council,” the Mayor said.
“Council continues to provide region-wide flood maps on council’s website. Local residents are encouraged to check the website and familiarise themselves with the possible flood risks in their neighbourhood. 
“More than 1,600 local residents have registered to receive SMS, phone or e-mail messages from MoretonAlertcouncil’s new alert system www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/MoretonAlert "  
Handy tips and advice about preparing yourself and your family this storm season is available from council's website www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/disaster " 
For more information from the Bureau of Meteorology, or to download the Annual Climate Statement 2011, go to http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/index.shtml