The feature image attached to the post (Source NASA Worldview - TERRA MODIS and dated Saturday 14 March 2026) is showing major flooding around the township of Longreach (Outback Queensland). At the time of writing, major flooding is occurring across the town and further afield across the entire region.
While causing havoc across outback communities and cutting towns off from the outside world, a positive effect of this is that parts of the centre of Australia is turning green as floodwaters slowly move toward the southwest and into northeast South Australia.
During the past week, multiple flood events have impacted various towns and cities across northern Australia and outback Queensland. This has occurred following a recent active phase of the northern monsoon as well as a major rain event that crossed through Queensland between the 7 and 9 March.
The most notable events include:
1 - Katherine (Northern Territory)
At 10.41 pm March 7, the Katherine River at the town of Katherine peaked at 19.21 metres, resulting in major flooding and some of the worst flooding of the area since the 1998 event (January 25 to 29 1998). Floodwaters are now receding allowing for a major cleanup to occur.
This has occurred following incredible early 2026 rainfall which has seen the following rainfall:
- January - 362.6 mm of rain.
- February - 267 mm of rain.
- March (To date - 9am To Saturday 14 - 403.6 mm).
Total 1,033.2 mm so far for 2026.
Such flooding has now moved downstream and impacting rural and remote areas west of town.
2 - Queensland (Various regions)
Multiple flood warnings exist across various inland rivers of the state following excessive rainfall. Perhaps the worst affected city is Bundaberg. The city of around 74,000 residents sits on the Burnett River which is prone to flooding. There have been 3 major floods occurring within the past 16 years along the river.
A major rain event crossed through Queensland and some rainfall totals topped 200 mm for the 24 hours to 9 am Monday 9 March including:
- Brovinia - 260 mm.
- Planet Downs - 218 mm.
- Kingaroy - 199 mm.
A vast number of rain gauges across the Bundaberg region and beyond recorded in excess of 100 mm of rain to 9 am Monday morning which contributed to the scale of the flooding now seen.
Following this rain, major flooding impacts:
- Alice River (Barcaldine).
- Balone River.
- Condamine River.
- Cooper Creek (Windorah).
- Dawson River.
- Georgina River.
- Thompson River (Longreach where major flooding is occurring).
Minor to moderate flooding affects numerous other rivers across the state.
Effectively a vast flood is traversing the inland rivers at the present time with the floodwaters slowly making its way towards Lake Eyre (South Australia). Any community along one of the inland rivers will be impacted by this event as the flood peak moves along the river system.
It is known that there are now fatalities with 2 occurring on the Burnett River near Kilkivan.
This event is ongoing at the time of writing as this is a slow moving flood that will continue for weeks to come.