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Understand your flood, storm, heatwave and bushfire risk. Learn about flooding in Brisbane. Sign up for severe weather alerts.

Natural disasters and emergencies in Brisbane

Everyone visiting or living in Brisbane needs to be aware of the risk of severe weather and natural disasters.

Brisbane is a river city with a subtropical climate. This means you can experience intense storms in spring and in the hot, humid summer months. In winter, you can expect dry and mild conditions. 

Brisbane’s climate and unique landscape make it prone to severe weather events. Occasionally, these events cause natural disasters. 

Types of natural disasters

The most common types of natural disasters experienced in Brisbane include:

  • flooding from heavy rainfall
  • severe storms, hail and damaging winds
  • heatwaves
  • bushfires.

Knowing your risk can help you protect yourself, your family, your home and your business.

Use the tools on this page to check your risk so you can prepare for an emergency.

Severe weather and creek flooding alerts

Brisbane Severe Weather Alert

Prepare for storm season by signing up to our Brisbane Severe Weather Alert service.

Find out more

Creek flooding alerts

See the locations that receive creek flooding alerts and sign up for alerts.

Find out more

Check your flood risk

Brisbane is naturally at risk of flooding due to its: 

  • location on the floodplain of the Brisbane River 
  • network of creek catchments
  • terrain featuring low-lying areas 
  • subtropical weather patterns, including a storm season which typically runs from September to March. 

Council’s Flood Awareness Map helps you understand your flood risk. It shows the likelihood of flooding on your property from different sources.

The Brisbane flood map is based on data from the latest flood studies and models endorsed by Council. 

The map:

  • covers the Brisbane Local Government Area
  • shows possible flood extents, based on the best data available to Council 
  • shows historic flood events
  • doesn’t show flooding in real-time. 

How to use the Flood Awareness Map

Before searching for a property on the Flood Awareness Map, it is important to understand the terms 'flood likelihood' and 'impact'.

The terms 'likelihood' and 'impact' are used by Council to explain the chances of floods occurring. These terms are used in the Flood Awareness Map, which is an awareness tool to display the probability of a flood occurring from one or more sources including creek, river and storm tide. It also shows the impact of overland flow flooding.

Once you have read this information, use the map to check your flooding risk.

  1. Search your property using your address, lot plan or suburb.
  2. Toggle the map layers to view the likelihood (very low – high) of different types of flooding. 
  3. Use the map layers to see if your property was affected by past flood events.
  4. View the legend and definitions to help you understand the map layers.  
Check your flood risk

Visit the Bureau of Meteorology website for general information on floods and flood safety.

The Bureau of Meteorology has its own terms and conditions of use. Council makes no statements, representations or warranties about the accuracy, correctness, timeliness, completeness of fitness for any purpose or use of information contained on the Bureau of Meteorology’s website.

To the full extent permitted by law, Council excludes all responsibility and liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for: 

  • information contained on the Bureau of Meteorology website or any linked website
  • any decisions made or actions taken on the basis of such information
  • any losses, liability, damages, claims, expenses and costs a user may incur, suffer or sustain as a result of the information on this website or any linked website being inaccurate, erroneous or incomplete in any way for any reason.  

Types of flooding

There are 4 common types of flooding in Brisbane. Learn about the different flood types to understand:

  • causes of flooding in Brisbane
  • where and when flooding is likely to happen
  • floodwater behaviour.

Creek flooding is caused by heavy rainfall over or near a creek catchment. Run-off from houses and streets can also contribute by adding to the water already in the creek.  

River flooding can also impact creek levels. Floodwater can rise quickly and be very fast moving, and then recede quickly.  

Living in low-lying areas located close to a creek can increase your risk of flooding.

River flooding is caused by prolonged rainfall over the river catchment. Floodwater can rise very slowly.  

Flooding downstream can happen hours or days after the rain has stopped. High tides can exacerbate river flooding.  

The closer you live to the river, the higher your risk of flooding.

Overland flow flooding is caused when excess rainwater flows over land. This usually happens during heavy rainfall in storm season.  

Overland flow flooding is less predictable because it’s affected by localised rainfall, the landscape and urban features (e.g. roads, stormwater pipes, fences and other structures).  

It generally occurs quickly and lasts for short periods of time. 

Storm tide and high tide flooding is caused by rising sea levels associated with storm surges or full/new moon high tides.  

Flooding impacts low-lying areas and streets close to tidal waterways (Brisbane River and creeks) and foreshores. The closer you live to these areas, the higher your risk of flooding. 

Types of flooding in Brisbane video

>>Female voice: The Brisbane Local Government Area contains more than 4,000 kilometres of waterways.

Brisbane experiences flooding from four sources and it’s important to understand these and to be prepared. This will help you stay safe, confident and ready for flood.

Creek flooding in Brisbane occurs when there is prolonged rainfall over a creek catchment. Intense rainfall, over an already saturated catchment, during the summer storm season could also result in creek flooding.

River flooding occurs when the river reaches capacity and excess water flows over its banks or backs up through the drainage system as backflow. This happens when there is widespread and prolonged rainfall over the upper catchments of the Brisbane River and can lead to floods in adjacent creeks. River flooding can occur hours after the rain has stopped.

Overland flow is the most common type of flooding during the summer storm season in Brisbane and can be unpredictable. It is the stormwater run-off that travels over the land when there are heavy rainfall events. It’s fast-moving and generally lasts for a short duration.

Storm tide flooding happens when there are higher than normal sea levels caused by a storm surge and is more likely to occur when there is high tides or king tides. This type of flooding affects low-lying areas close to tidal waterways and foreshores.

Use Brisbane City Council’s Flood Awareness Map to view a property and understand the likelihood of flooding from these flood sources on a property or in a suburb.

Council’s Flood Information Online can help residents and visitors stay safe, confident and ready.

Other flooding hazards

Flash flooding is flooding characterised by fast-moving and rapidly rising water levels. It’s often caused by periods of intense rainfall and can develop within minutes or hours.

Dams in the Brisbane Local Government Area are designed to spill when the water level gets too high. This can lead to localised flooding and road closures. If you live downstream of a dam, you are at a higher risk of flooding from dam spills. 

For alerts on dam releases from Seqwater dams, visit Seqwater.

Backflow devices reduce the chance of water flowing back up stormwater drainage. Flooding from other sources can still occur where backflow devices are in place. This depends on the location and conditions.

Be prepared for heatwaves

A heatwave occurs when the maximum and minimum temperatures are unusually hot over 3 or more days. 

Extreme heat in Brisbane is most likely to occur between November and March, but can occur at any time.  

Although everyone can be at risk of heat-related health problems, those most vulnerable include babies and young people, and the elderly. 

Heatwave warnings are available from the Bureau of Meteorology. You can also get hot weather health and safety advice from the Queensland Government.

Be bushfire aware

The risk of bushfires is highest during the hotter and drier months of the year.

South East Queensland’s bushfire season typically runs from August to December. This can vary depending on the condition of local bushland, long-term climate conditions and other weather events.

Search your postcode 

People living in bushland or rural residential areas are at higher risk of bushfires. However, smoke, embers and burning materials can impact urban areas, too.

You can check your area’s bushfire risk using the Queensland Fire Department’s postcode checker.

mdi information outline1

Note

Queensland Fire Department has more information on how to assess your fire risk.

Planned burns 

We conduct planned burns to maintain the health of our bushland and lessen the risk of wildfires.

Planned burns reduce the amount of materials that can fuel fires, such as dead wood. They are sometimes called hazard reduction burns.

Frequently asked questions

There are steps you can take to prepare your home, family and business for emergencies in Brisbane. These include checking your risk, preparing an emergency kit and having an emergency plan in place.

Council’s Flood Awareness Map was updated in December 2023. The Brisbane flood map is continually updated with the latest flood studies and models endorsed by Council.

The Queensland Government has a range of tools and resources to help assess your risk. Visit Get Ready Queensland.