Soaking 'cancels' Qld's fire season

The east braces for more rain while the west swelters. Photo / Getty Images

It might be hard for flood-weary Queenslanders to appreciate, but the drenching the state received in recent months means the risk of bushfires this summer is virtually zero.

As Queensland braced itself for another soaking yesterday, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said the flip side of the torrential downpours - which have caused widespread flooding - was the low fire risk.

"The bushfire season has effectively been cancelled, because of how sodden the state is and has been for a long time," he said.

The rest of the country, though, particularly southern regions and drought-plagued Western Australia, still faces a heightened bushfire threat.

With temperatures of 40C forecast for Perth yesterday, a total fire ban was declared for the city and its surrounds, amid warnings of a severe bushfire danger.

The temperature reached 39.9C in Perth on Christmas Day and the forecast for the rest of the week is for temperatures in the low to mid-30s.

That Australia is a land of extremes was highlighted by the snow that fell overnight on Mt Wellington, on the outskirts of the Tasmanian capital, Hobart.

Although the city itself was somewhat warmer, yesterday's forecast high was only 15C - a world away from the baking cauldron of Perth.

The southwest of Western Australia, which has received minuscule rainfall, will be the nation's bushfire flashpoint this summer, forecasters say.

"The drought hasn't broken in that part of the country whatsoever, and the conditions created by that extended and pronounced period of aridity put it at extreme risk," said the Bureau of Meteorology spokesman.

In Queensland towns such as Chinchilla, in the state's southern inland, residents have different concerns.

Chinchilla was cut off yesterday after more than 100mm of rain was dumped on the town overnight, flooding the Warrego Highway in both directions.

Homes were evacuated and dozens of businesses were forced toclose.

In Theodore, west of Bundaberg, authorities have evacuated low-lying homes, the hospital and the retirement home as the swollen Dawson River rises.

While northern Queensland - the first region to be hit by ex-tropical cyclone Tasha - also received another 100mm of rain, the floodwaters were receding yesterday.

The townsfolk of Ingham, which had been cut off, breathed a sigh of relief after the Bruce Highway reopened in both directions.

Tasha, which was downgraded to a low after making landfall south of Cairns at the weekend, was moving across southern inland areas of the state yesterday.

Parts of central-western New South Wales were also affected, with two dozen properties evacuated after flash floods.