Cairns has been smashed by flood levels not seen in 45 years with the city’s airport underwater, sparking Christmas travel chaos for thousands of Aussies.
More than 600mm of rain has drenched far north Queensland in the past 24 hours, with further downfalls of 300mm expected on Monday in the aftermath of ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper.
The popular holiday hotspot is now ‘an island’ with major roads cut off and split in half by floodwaters.
Hundreds of residents and tourists have been forced to leave their homes with hotels converted into evacuation centres.
The city’s deluged airport has been closed for a second day after 307mm of rain was recorded there in the last 24 hours. It is unlikely to reopen before Tuesday at the earliest.
Nine people were trapped on a hospital roof in the remote Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal on Monday morning with emergency services scrambling to rescue them.
Meanwhile, there are real fears that the region could run out of drinking water within hours with residents urged to conserve water whenever possible.
Cairns Airport was forced to close because of severe flooding, with extraordinary images showing multiple aircraft submerged in a rising torrent on the runway
The Wajul Wujal indigenous community in far north Queensland has been cut off. Pictured are stranded residents at the local hospital which was inundated with floodwaters
Heavy, intense rainfall with dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding, is forecast north of Cairns, along with six-hourly rainfall totals up to 300 mm.
The towns of Port Douglas, Wujal Wujal, Daintree Village and Cooktown are among those in the firing line.
Mayor Terry James has warned that the Cairns region could run out of water if infrastructure blockages are not cleared and residents do not conserve water.
‘We’ve currently got about 30 hours left so we’re urging people to top up on water while they can,’ he said.
‘If we can’t unblock it, we will run out of water in the reservoirs by 10am (Monday),’ he said on Sunday night.
‘We’re stressing to people to use water for emergency purposes only – as drinking water, to save or preserve life.’
The severe flooding has thrown Christmas plans into disarray for not only locals heading off on holidays but also travellers travelling north for the festive season.
The airport is unlikely to reopen on Monday with more heavy rain forecast.
The Palmerston Highway in far north Queensland has been split in half following heavy rain and flooding from ex-tropical cyclone Jasper
‘Cairns is like an island,’ Tropical Far North Queensland Tourism chief executive Mark Olsen told the Today show.
‘Yesterday was definitely one for the history books, with record rainfall up in the catchment.
‘Our focus at the moment is keeping the community safe – from Cairns, we can’t travel north to our friends in the Douglas Shire, our Northern Beaches are cut off, we’re cut off on the highway to the south and both tracks to the tablelands are also cut off at the moment.’
Emergency services performed more than 250 assisted rescues on Sunday night
Nine people trapped on the roof of the hospital in Wujal Wujal remain stranded.
The Wujal Wujal Council issued an urged plea after a crocodile was spotted at thew bridge crossing
These tourists managed to board one of the final flights out of Cairns on Sunday before the airport closed mid-afternoon
Horrified locals spotted a crocodile in a flooded drain in the town centre of Ingham on Monday morning
‘Parents, please keep your children away from the area,’ the message stated.
‘There are children swimming close by.’
Mr Olsen has pleaded called for more assistance from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Queensland Premier Steven Miles.
‘We really need to get out and assess the situation and it will take us a couple of days to really understand it, so people who have bookings for Christmas and the new year, just give us a couple of days to understand where we’re at.’
Further south, Ingham is also on flood watch as horrified locals spotted a large crocodile swimming in a swollen drain in the centre of town.
Australian Defence Force personnel are on standby to support the flood recovery effort.
‘People have been devastated and of course it’s a very dangerous situation for many who are in unprecedented flood waters,’ Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the ABC’s AM on Monday.
‘The forecast, tragically, is predicting more rain still.’
Emergency services in far north Queensland have performed hundreds of rescues in recent days, including motorists stranded in floodwaters. Pictured is an abandoned car
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk