Daily London
More than 16,000 head of livestock have been reported lost or missing as Queensland’s north braces for further rainfall and river levels continue to rise.
Townsville copped the brunt of the rainfall overnight with more than 200mm recorded in the 24 hours to 9am as the system moved over the state’s north-east coast after dumping more than a metre of rain in some areas of the north-west over the last few days.
Two people narrowly escaped their vehicle as it sunk into fast-moving floodwater at Cape York Peninsula while a man was winched from his motorhome by rescue crews at Dimbulah west of Cairns.
The state government’s current estimate of around 16,450 head of cattle reported lost or missing, as well as hundreds of kilometres of fencing and roads and crucial equipment could still increase when floodwaters recede.
The low-pressure system will move north towards Cape York Peninsula from tomorrow, but flooded communities are bracing for rivers to continue to rise.
Meteorologist Miriam Bradbury from the Bureau of Meteorology said there was currently flooding across western and northern parts of Queensland, pushing towards the north-east coast.
“Even in these places where the rain might start to ease off, we will continue to see riverine flooding,” she said.
“We are currently seeing major flooding occurring on the Flinders River at Richmond and Walker’s Bend, and on the Western River at Winton.
“We may also see possible further rises with the arrival of upstream flows.”
Flood warnings are currently in place for the Georgina, Norman, Gilbert, Nicholson, Leichhardt, Herbert, Western, Diamantina, Tully, Burdekin, Cape, Flinders, Cloncurry and Bohle rivers as well as Eyre Creek.
A tropical low is also tipped to form off the coastline from tomorrow.
Premier David Crisafulli announced disaster relief for the affected areas last week.
