Roads in the Queensland region have been badly damaged, with a metre of rain falling in some areas. Photo / X
Roads in the Queensland region have been badly damaged, with a metre of rain falling in some areas. Photo / X
North Queensland remains inundated by floods and heavy rain from ex-tropical cyclone Jasper that has prompted the deployment of rescue vessels in Cairns.
The rain is forecast to continue throughout Monday and into Tuesday, with some areas already hit with totals of more than a metre and water levels expectedto break 1977 records.
An emergency flood warning was issued for Machans Beach, Holloways Beach and Yorkeys Knob on Sunday night, with residents urged to take shelter and not to expect emergency services to come to their door.
Due to large numbers of urgent calls for assistance from the Halloways Beach, Machans Beach and Yorkeys Knob area, we have deployed significant rescue vessels including SES flood boats, QFES rescue boats, QPS water police vessels, surf lifesaving vessels and local vessels.
Boats from the SES, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, surf lifesaving and water police were deployed after urgent calls for assistance in the area and Premier Steven Miles also sought the help of small rescue vessels from the HMAS Cairns naval base.
Evacuations and rescues have been carried out, mostly at Mossman, Douglas, Gordonvale and Innisfail, and homes in low-lying areas have been inundated.
Roads including the Bruce Highway were cut off and several bridges were damaged beyond use.
⚠️Latest Severe Weather Warning: Heavy, locally intense rainfall w dangerous & life-threatening flash flooding, occurring or possible between Wujal Wujal & Babinda with 6-hourly rainfall totals up to 300 mm. Heavy rainfall from Cooktown to Innisfail and inland areas. pic.twitter.com/6sMmsM7uF1
Wild weather and “life-threatening” flooding in far north Queensland is not expected to ease for days as a 10-year-old girl fights for life after being struck by lightning in Queensland’s southeast.
Ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper is lashing the north of the state, with areas between Daintree and Ingham receiving more than 500mm of rain.
Laura Boekel of the Bureau of Meteorology said rivers and creeks were responding rapidly to further rainfall.
“It won’t take a lot of rainfall in these catchments to see more flooding,” she said on Sunday.
There is a “very high likelihood” conditions will not ease until Tuesday afternoon.
There is a serious weather emergency playing out right now in Far North Queensland as the region continues to be impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper. There is still more rain to come.
Some communities have received up to 600mm of rain in the past day.
Deputy Police Commissioner and State Disaster Co-ordinator Shane Chelepy said some residents climbed onto roofs to escape floodwaters and were forced to wait for rescue.
“It was too dangerous for us to rescue them,” he said.
Authorities were in constant contact with the people until they were rescued, he said.
Premier Steven Miles said on Sunday the situation in north Queensland had the potential to get worse.
“There is a serious weather emergency playing out right now,” he said.
“There’s been a very high level of rainfall overnight and during today, and it’s likely to continue.”
The Rex Range in northern Queensland experienced land slips following heavy rain brought in by ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper. Photo / X
Bureau meteorologist Laura Boekel said rivers and creeks were responding rapidly to further rainfall and urged people to stay up to date with evolving warnings.
Cairns airport shut down on Sunday after receiving 309mm of rainfall in 24 hours, with floodwaters predicted to exceed 3.8m.
This is Cairns today. The Cairns community is dealing with significant flooding after Tropical Cyclone Jasper made landfall. Our government is working closely with the Qld government to ensure assistance is available to those who need it. pic.twitter.com/wwV6CcLtDc
Severe thunderstorms also lashed the state’s southeast across the weekend.
A 10-year-old girl was struck by lightning at a private property in Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast at 2.30pm on Saturday during a storm and was in a critical condition in hospital as of Sunday evening.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was working with the Queensland government to ensure assistance was available to those who needed it.
Major arterial road the Bruce Highway was closed at 13 places between Cairns and Ingham on Sunday afternoon.
Homes, buildings, roads and bridges have been inundated while authorities also warned of landslides and the risk vital services such as power, water, sewerage and telephone services could be cut.
Planes are disappearing underwater at Cairns Airport. Photo / Facebook/Joseph Dietz.
Residents and businesses in Cairns have been advised to use water for emergency purposes only as council’s treatment plants were offline due to flooding.
Black Mountain in the Barron catchment received the highest total amount of rainfall in the period from 9am on Sunday with 652mm.
Major flood warnings have been issued for the Daintree, Mossman and Herbert rivers, Johnstone River Catchment and the Mulgrave, Russel and Tully rivers.
Jasper has reached the waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria as a low after dumping heavy rain on parts of the state for five days.
The system is slowly moving west and could redevelop into a cyclone from Wednesday.
