Brisbane Shuts Down Due to Ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie

After wreaking havoc in north Queensland earlier this week, ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie is making its presence known down south. The wet and wild weather system is doing a hefty job of shutting down Brisbane, generating heavy rainfall throughout the city, and sparking widespread road and business closures.

With the weather set to intensify, complete with thunderstorms, flash flooding, between 200mm and 500mm of rain, wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour and power outages, many organisations have taken a proactive step to shut their doors. When the Queensland Government delivered every kids' dream by cancelling school for the day throughout the region — covering an area from Agnes Water in central Queensland to the New South Wales border — it was clear that this wasn't an ordinary shower. The Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University and the University of Queensland will follow in their footsteps from noon. ABC Brisbane is reporting that Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart recommends shops and businesses should do the same.

So far, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Art Gallery, the Queensland Museum, the State Library of Queensland and the Schonell Theatre are among the organisations taking that advice, while new technology festival Myriad will do the same, and James St Up Late has been completely cancelled. Brisbane Airport remains open at the time of writing, but keeping an eye on individual airlines is recommended. For those looking to travel around town rather than out of it, public transport will be free throughout southeast Queensland from 10am to get everyone home and off of the roads.

Importantly, while Gelato Messina's Coolangatta store is closed, South Brisbane's new store is remaining open for now — it just opened yesterday, so we can't blame them for wanting to hold out.

As reports of flooding around the city increase, the list of places closing their doors for the day is only expected to grow, and unsurprisingly, Brisbanites are encouraged to remain indoors. Keep an eye on the Bureau of Meteorology website for the latest weather updates — and stay safe and dry, folks.