Damaging winds force cruise ship passengers to spend another night out at sea
Passengers on the Coral Princess cruise ship currently circling off the coast of Brisbane have spent another night out at sea.
After being stuck below deck for days, a surging swell from the weather system off the Queensland coast has kept the Port of Brisbane closed overnight on Saturday.
Authorities are set to reassess the status on Sunday morning.
This means those passengers aboard the cruise ship are set to remain out at sea for some time yet.
The ship was forced to battle 6.5 metre waves with around 2000 passengers on board.
Conditions are forecast to ease across the day but the Bureau of Meteorology still has a Severe Weather Warning in place for dangerous surf for people in parts of Wide Bay and Burnett and Southeast Coast Forecast Districts, forecasting dangerous surf along the exposed coastline south of Sandy Cape.
A Hazardous Surf Warning is also current for Fraser Island Coast, Sunshine Coast Waters and Gold Coast Waters.
The heavy rainfall that battered the coast on Friday eased across Saturday but damaging winds remained, bringing down trees and powerlines.
“These winds are still around for another day or so. We’re expecting there are going to be some dramas but we have been lucky so far which has been very good,” Glenn Norris from Volunteer Marine Rescue told 9News.
There was bedlam in the Broadwater with boats coming adrift, now upturned, and beached on the sand.
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Adelaide
209 -
Brisbane
2212 -
Canberra
173 -
Darwin
2915 -
Hobart
168 -
Melbourne
1810 -
Perth
167 -
Sydney
1810
As the sun comes out, the clean up begins. Around half a dozen boats that have dragged anchor and run aground in the Broadwater will need to be towed out on high tide
The wild weather sparked deadly flash flooding on Friday and claimed the life of a 47-year-old Nanango man whose car was swept away in floodwaters.
The search for the man’s car is continuing on Saturday morning.
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Residents can keep up to date with current weather warnings on the Bureau of Meteorology website.
