The entire town of Wujal Wujal will need to be evacuated as record rainfall and dangerous flash flooding continues to hit Far North Queensland.
Key points:
- Nine people who were trapped on a rooftop in Wujal Wujal have moved to higher ground
- Cairns Airport to remain closed after record rainfall in the city
- Flood evacuations are continuing, with major road damage hampering rescue efforts
Nine people who were trapped on the roof of the Wujal Wujal hospital have moved to higher ground, but Premier Steven Miles says the entire town will now need to be moved.
“Agencies are working across government … to work out how to do that, to safely get the community of Wujal Wujal to Cooktown, to the PCYC there,” he said.
“Intense rainfall is expected to continue, though it has eased in some locations. There is a risk of ongoing showers and storms throughout the day and [we] will need to monitor how that impacts on river levels and flooding.”
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Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the volume of water seen during this flood event has been “devastating”.
“Thankfully we have not seen any deaths or serious injuries as a result of this event,” she said.
She said the nine people who were stuck on the roof of the hospital evacuated when the waters slightly receded.
Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy said they have engaged with the Australian Defence Force for assistance.
“Most of those communities are totally isolated …. the water is moving so fast in that area. Wujal Wujal received over 260mm of rain overnight alone,” he said.
Seven people still need rescue from the top of houses in Degarra, and two people on the roof of Bloomfield.
The SES has received more than 1,000 requests for assistance in the past 24 hours, while Fire and Rescue Service swift water firefighters have responded to more than 370 call outs, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said.
Premier Steven Miles said HMAS Cairns, plus “every other boat we could find in Cairns” has been helping with rescues overnight.
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‘Just an extreme amount of water’
In the Daintree, residents have been isolated for days, stranded by floodwaters over Stewart Creek Road since Cyclone Jasper hit on Wednesday.
Tony Bartels said there was a “good size” landslide overnight, but thankfully most homes escaped serious damage.
“Totally, totally underwater, it’s the highest anyone’s ever seen it over this end,” he said.
“Just an extreme amount of water.”
Holloway’s Beach resident Dan Bateman has lost his home, evacuating to a neighbour’s rooftop by boat overnight.
“We could see how fast the water was flowing. We had to dodge fridges floating past, big branches — at one point, someone said there was a cow coming down the road,” he said.
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He said he waited for several hours with his wife, his dog and 30 other people in pouring rain for rescue boats to arrive.
“The rain was torrential. Having to huddle, quite a few people didn’t have rain jackets, just vests and shorts. You could see them shivering, but everyone was helping each other,” he said.
In Ingham, residents woke to find a large crocodile in a swollen drain at the centre of town.
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Cairns airport to remain closed as flooding continues
The area has suffered some of its worst flooding in decades, with major flooding levels exceeded in river systems as far north as the Daintree to Ingham in the south, and floodwater all but cutting off Cairns.
The downpour was due to the lingering effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper which crossed the coast last week and has been moving very slowly, dumping rain across northern Queensland.
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Cairns Airport will remain closed, with all departing and arriving flights cancelled until significant debris can be removed and cleaned.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the highest rainfall in the last 20 hours to 5am was 654mm at Yandilll, but a number of gauges have surpassed the 600mm mark.
“For Cairns it’s exceeding the 1977 flood event and there’s been major flooding over the Barron River and … the Daintree,” Senior meteorologist Sarah Scully said.
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The previous record for the Daintree River was 12.6 metres — that 2019 record was broken with a peak of 15 metres.
Ms Scully said flood warnings were still in place from Hopevale to south of Cairns with six-hourly totals of 300mm expected north of Wujal Wujal.
Totals of up to 820mm of rain were observed in the Daintree River catchment since 9am Sunday.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the “good news” was the falls were expected to ease by this afternoon.
Cairns Regional Council Mayor Terry James said council was urgently working to ensure the city does not run out of treated water.
“We want people to conserve water … It is just a race against time.
“Emergency use is drinking only. Try not to unfortunately flush your toilets … grab some rain from outside to flush the toilet if need be.”
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Mr James said reports on social media about dams breaking were false.
“Absolutely no concern about the dam failing whatsoever … it is just water over the spillway,” he said.
Approximately 14,000 homes are still without power in the region.
Ergon Energy spokeswoman Emma Oliveri said power had been switched off to low-lying areas.
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