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Hundreds of people have fled to evacuation centres after record-breaking rain in northern Australia, with the deluge set to continue for days.
North Queensland residents between Cairns and Mackay have been warned to stay on alert for rising water levels with significant rainfall expected until at least Wednesday.
“We’re seeing record-breaking rainfall in many locations,” Bureau of Meteorology’s Matt Collopy told reporters.
“There is more significant rain to come … so it will take days for that water to come out of those systems.”
Nearly one metre of rain was recorded at Paluma Dam, Townsville in the last 48 hours while Ingham has copped more than 400mm in the last day.
Floodwaters are expected to continue rising in Ingham where the river is centimetres shy of reaching the 1967 record of 15.2m which devastated the area.
Townsville’s Ross River is also set to rise beyond the major flood level on Monday afternoon.
when an SES boat helping people through floodwaters struck a tree and flipped in Ingham.
‘It can change on a dime’
Flooding has cut power and damaged roads throughout the north, with a major Bruce Highway link — the Ollera Creek Bridge near Townsville — collapsing into the water on Sunday afternoon.
Local mayor Ramon Jayo described it as “another disaster” for Ingham which is without power after its substation was flooded, only has five days of fresh water left and must rely on supply drops via helicopter.
Multiple evacuation warnings are in place for regions across the far north with residents in Cardwell, Ingham and Townsville’s “black zone” spanning Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea unable to return home.
There were 11 swift water rescues and nearly 400 calls for help for leaking ceilings, roof damage, flooding, evacuations and felled trees on Sunday night.
Townsville Councillor Andrew Robinson said floodwaters in the black zone were expected to peak on Tuesday morning while more areas could be impacted in coming days.
“Mother Nature, she can be pretty fickle, and it can change on a dime,” he said.
There are more than 400 people currently in evacuation centres across Townsville, Ingham and Cardwell.
Nearly 70 state schools are closed across the north as well as 16 independent and 24 Catholic schools.
More than 11,000 northern Queenslanders remain without power after the Ingham and Cardwell substations were switched off due to floodwaters.
Bushfires and storms in Victoria
Meanwhile, wildfires continue to burn in Little Desert and Grampians national parks in Victoria’s west, with 84,000 hectares burned in the Little Desert area and 46,000 hectares burned in the Grampians.
Two properties are believed to be lost to a fire around Hattah, north of Ouyen, in the state’s northwest and several new fires, possibly started by lightning strikes, are burning out of control in the Great Otway National Park.
Apollo Bay and other Great Ocean Road communities have been issued with a watch and act warning.
Thousands of lightning strikes hit the ground across the state overnight and power was cut to at least 38,000 homes and businesses, although this number had been reduced to fewer than 8,000 as of midday on Monday.
Rain totals of 63mm were reported at Lara, 52mm at Avalon Airport, 48mm at Clunes and 47mm at Geelong, and more severe storms are possible in eastern South Australia and western and central Victoria on Monday afternoon and evening.
Temperatures in Victoria have remained in the high 30s and low 40s for much of state for a second straight day, with a cool change only expected to reach Victoria on Tuesday afternoon.
