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A persistent deluge is hitting rain-soaked northern Australia with floodwaters still rising, leaving some people isolated, without power and desperate for swollen rivers to subside.
The heaviest rain has fallen between Lucinda to Townsville in northern Queensland as the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) warns the big wet will continue for days.
Nearly 1,000mm of rain was recorded at Paluma Dam in Townsville in the last 48 hours, while Ingham has copped more than 400mm in the last day.
The BoM has issued a severe weather warning from Tully to Ayr that’s likely to bring isolated falls of 300mm on Monday.
The continued deluge has led to swollen waterways with major flood warnings in place for the Herbert, Ross, Bohle, Haughton and Upper Burdekin rivers.
Meteorologist Dean Narramore said persistent widespread rain will subside in the afternoon but increase again from Tuesday.
“There will possibly be some breaks in the rainfall, but we don’t totally clear out of the rainfall for quite a while,” he said.
The State Emergency Service (SES) was under pressure on Sunday night with 11 swift water rescues and nearly 400 calls for help for leaking ceilings, roof damage, flooding, evacuations and felled trees.
Two people were saved from the roof of their car that was submerged in floodwaters in Woodstock town around 7pm, while another person was rescued from a truck stuck in floodwaters in Basalt.
when an SES boat helping people through floodwaters struck a tree and flipped in Ingham.
‘This is a big one’
Premier David Crisafulli said the flood disaster rivalled the 1967 emergency that completely submerged Ingham.
“This is a big one,” he told the Nine Network on Monday.
“To put it into perspective, the 1967 flood which everybody talks about as the one in 100 years that was about 15.2m.
“Well [the Herbert River] remains close to 15m and has been so for some time.”
The flood disaster in Ingham has hit close to home for Crisafulli, with his family farm affected.
“To see the images of people’s homes and businesses and farms, you know, they’re people I grew up with,” Crisafulli told Sky News.
“So, of course, it’s personal, but ultimately, we’ve got a job to do, and that job is to make sure that people get the message and get themselves safe.”
Evacuation warnings in north Queensland
Multiple evacuation warnings are in place for regions across the far north, with residents in Cardwell the latest to be told to leave.
The Ingham area and Ross River “black zone” in Townsville spanning Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea have been told it’s not safe to return home.
More than 9,000 northern Queenslanders remain without power after the Ingham substation was switched off due to floodwaters.
“It’s some of the worst inundation we’ve seen in this beautiful community,” Ergon Energy said.
The state government has activated hardship payment support for impacted residents in Hinchinbrook, Palm Island, Townsville and Gordonvale.
