Flood waters have isolated a group of Townsville students on school camp in north Queensland.
Eight teachers and 72 Year 6 students from The Willows State School are trapped at the Echo Creek adventure park after roads between Cairns and Townsville were swamped by 200-250mm of rain over the past 24 hours.
A Queensland Police spokesman said the group was safe and in constant contact with authorities.
As the bad weather continues, an entire town has been submerged by floods after days of torrential rainfall
Emergency services won’t attempt to rescue them due to safety risks, but are preparing to provide them with food supplies.
The spokesman said a father of one of the children had driven through floodwaters and attempted to paddle a canoe to the group on Thursday, but had later turned back.
With the bad weather continuing, an entire town has been submerged by floods after days of torrential rainfall as some Queensland regions experience the worst rainfall in a decade.
Forecasters said the chance of a cyclone lashing the northern region is now at 5-20 per cent for this weekend, but the possibility of one developing would increase next week, the Cairns Post reported.
“The chance of a cyclone forming this weekend in the Gulf of Carpentaria has decreased from (Wednesday’s) outlook, as the focus now shifts to early next week,” a BOM spokesman said.
If a tropical cyclone does form next week, it will be the first tropical cyclone in the northern region for the 2017/2018 season and will be named Linda.
Winton, located more than 850km west of Rockhampton in the state’s central west, is surrounded by floodwaters with all but one access road cut after days of heavy rain.
The council will fly in supplies if the waters don’t recede within a few days
The area is surrounded by rising floodwaters, as its highest 3.7m deep, after reviving more than 2.5-times the historical average of rainfall the town expects.
With a population of 1000, Winton has recorded its wettest day in 18 years with 101.8mm of rain falling in just 24 hours.
Locals however are forgiving the inconvenience the floodwaters have brought with many residents remaining in high spirits.
‘The people that are getting affected by the water might not be too impressed by it, but everyone else has loved the rain,’ he told 9 News.
The council will fly in supplies if the waters don’t recede within a few days.
Winton Hotel owner Kevin Fawcett says locals are okay with the temporary disruption.
‘We’ve been in drought out here for so long, so it’s a bit of a novelty everyone’s saying how great it is,’ he told the ABC.
With a population of 1000, Winton has recorded its wettest day in 18 years with 101.8mm of rain falling in just 24 hours
Lachlan Millar is the MP for Gregory which takes in flood-bound Winton and other parched towns that are celebrating more than 400mm of rain in recent days.
‘The Ilfracombe Dam had been bone dry since January. The town was staring down the barrel of having no water. A downpour over the weekend brought the first inflow into the dam since 2016,’ he told parliament.
He said drought-affected farmers in the interior would need support for some time and the drought was not over.
‘Four days of rain does not undo seven years of relentless drought conditions. Now more than ever we need to support our farmers, graziers and our rural communities,’ Mr Millar said.
‘The majority of graziers in Western Queensland are destocked. Many have not had an income for five-to-seven years and are struggling to put food on the table.
All but one access road has been cut after days of heavy rain
‘Those lucky enough to receive rainfall are too scared to restock without the promise of more rain to come … small businesses are struggling and families have left in droves chasing work and a reprieve from unrelenting drought conditions.’
Residents in Far North Queensland are looking at some of the heaviest rainfall and flooding seen in a decade.
At on Friday 5am, Cairns recorded 131.8mm of rainfall and intermittent flash flooding while Innisfail has seen 97mm.
The Bureau of Metorology has confirmed the tropical cyclone currently in the Coral Sea is not likely to have any effect on Queensland, and chances are low of a cyclone forming off of the low pressure system in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
‘(Tropical Cyclone Hola) is expected to take a more southerly track during the day and track back to the south-east at the moment and it’s not expected to have any impact on the Queensland coast,’ BoM forecaster Sam Campbell said.
Some locals are forgiving the inconvenience the floodwaters have brought with many residents remaining in high spirits