A man floating in raging floodwaters in Far North Queensland has impressed Aussies with his laidback attitude in the face of the chaos around him.
Gavin Dear, from Helenvale, helped rescue up to 18 stranded residents in his community along with two other men.
While filming the rescue mission, he came across ‘Jonesy’, a shirtless, grey-haired man covered in tattoos, holding onto a gate in rushing floodwaters.
In a clip shared to Facebook, a helicopter hovered over fast-moving waters at the Lions Den Hotel, just north of Rossville, before the camera landed on the stranded man.
‘Jonesy, are you all right?’ a voice asked out from behind the camera.
‘Yeah mate. All good,’ Jonesy responded before raising concerns about others in danger nearby.
More than two metres of rain fell around Cooktown and Rossville in the past week.
Hundreds of social media users flocked to the comments section to express their praise for the Aussie larrikin.
‘There’s no possible way this could be any more Far North Queensland,’ one said.
‘I think that was the most Australian moment since the first ever utterance of G’day,’ another wrote.
‘Surrounded by utter chaos, waste deep in flood water, chopper evac in the background, worried about the other blokes and a dog ‘yeah, I’m all good’.
While others labelled the man ‘a bloody legend’.
An Aussie man known by the name ‘Jonesy’ has won the hearts of Aussies after footage emerged of him responding casually to being trapped in floodwaters in Far North Queensland
When asked by rescuers if he was ok, Jonesy responded that he was ‘all good’
Mr Dear said another local also deserved commendation after he helped more than a dozen evacuees from the Lions Den Hotel on Sunday.
‘I must say that this fella is the real hero of the story. His name is Magoo,’ Mr Dear told ABC Radio.
‘He made 16 trips and landed on that roof in the pissing rain, where no other chopper pilot would fly.
‘He rescued every one of those people. While we were rescuing these other dudes, he was just running people back and forward.’
Up to 12 locations across Far North Queensland received record rainfall totals with some areas receiving a year’s worth of rain in a single day.
Up to 12 locations across Far North Queensland received record rainfall totals with some areas receiving a year’s worth of rain in a single day
The town of Wujal Wujal was inundated with flood waters from Tropical Cyclone Jasper
A dog is rescued from waters in flood-ravaged Far North Queensland
Mossman South, an hour northwest of Cairns, received 1,935mm of rain in five days while Black Mountain near Cooktown recorded 2,189mm.
Weather conditions are due to weaken as ex-cyclone Jasper moves northward.
Up to 14,000 people in 40 communities were still without power on Monday.
A severe weather warning remains in place for Port Douglas, Daintree Village, Wujal Wujal, Cooktown, and Hope Vale. A flood warning remains in place for Mossman, Murray, Herbert, Tully, Johnstone, and Mulgrave rivers.
Residents have been warned to keep an eye out for crocodiles that have been washed into residential streets in the wake of the cyclone.
Emergency services will focus efforts on delivering food, fresh water and medicine to dozens of isolated communities in far north Queensland.
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