Australians living in western and inland Queensland are facing major flooding only a few weeks after the region was battered by ex-Cyclone Alfred.
As of Friday afternoon, about 13 councils spanning more than 500,000 square kilometres across Queensland had flood warnings or watches in place.
Outback town Jundah is the latest area to start evacuations after it was inundated with floodwater. There is no power or mobile reception.
Locals and business owners have been sharing alarming images of roads completely submerged, with residents walking in water up to their knees.
‘Flooding around Jundah means the community will most likely be fully isolated (power off) tonight,’ Ergon Energy Network said on Friday.
‘Crews have been working to isolate areas for safety all day but it’s now at a point where they will need to shut things down for everyone’s safety later tonight.
‘As soon as the water has dropped and we can get clear access, our crews will be on the ground.
‘Please stay safe. If you have electrical appliances or power-points that have been covered by flood water you will need to have them checked by a licensed electrician.’
About 100mm to 300mm of rain will fall across a broad area of outback Queensland this week
Locals and business owners in outback town Jundah have been sharing alarming images of roads completely submerged while residents walk in water up to their knees
Queensland Police said it does not have total numbers for evacuations across the state at the moment as the situation is evolving.
‘Emergency services are monitoring the flooding situation in towns across western Queensland, and planning is underway for evacuations, as required,’ a statement said.
’28 people in Adavale were evacuated to Quilpie by helicopter yesterday, and evacuations have commenced in Jundah this afternoon.’
Adavale is roughly 300km from Jundah. Roughly 50 people in Windorah were also offered the chance to leave.
Windorah, 100km from Jundah, is home to Cooper’s Creek which had risen to 8 metres at about 8pm, Barcoo Shire Council said.
Premier David Crisafulli said he was ‘deeply concerned’ about Jundah and Windorah when he arrived in Quilpie on Friday, ABC News reported.
‘We have met some very, very brave Queenslanders who were evacuated from their community,’ he said.
‘And we are concerned for a number of other communities as a hell of a lot of water from a number of river systems converge at one time.’
The Bureau of Meteorology warned that Queensland is experiencing significant flooding, with major warnings in place for the western and inland areas
Jundah resident Louise O’Neil told the ABC the entire town was under knee-deep water, but it had not entered her house.
The Quilpie community is among a number of regions threatened by floodwaters.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that the state is experiencing significant flooding, with major warnings in place for the western and inland areas of the regions.
As of 9pm, warnings are current for the following catchments: Bulloo, Diamantina, Thomson, Barcoo, Cooper, Eyre Creek, Georgina, Flinders, Cloncurry, Warrego, Paroo, Maranoa, Herbert, Ross, Bohle, Haughton, Burdekin, Pioneer, Mary and Noosa.
Major warnings were also issued for the Bohle and Haughton rivers near Townsville in the north.
The Townsville region had already been hit hard by February floods triggered by record rainfall that claimed two lives, forced hundreds to evacuate and cut power for days.
There are also minor flood warnings for parts of south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales.
About 100mm to 300mm of rain will fall across a broad area of outback Queensland this week, with that amount peaking to 400mm in some isolated areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology has said larger falls this week could equate to six or nine months’ worth of rain, and almost a year’s worth in isolated inland areas
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Dean Narramore said those larger falls equated to six or nine months’ worth of rain and almost a year’s worth in isolated inland areas.
‘Normally, you’d see the heavy rainfall over a few days, but when you’re talking about hundreds of millimetres in outback areas like western Queensland, that is becoming more unusual,’ Mr Narramore said.
In coming days the rain is set to shift south, with a ‘very wet day’ forecast on Saturday for coastal areas from central Queensland’s Yeppoon to southern NSW’s Bega, including Brisbane and Sydney.
Sandbagging sites began reopening around Brisbane just as southeast Queensland moves on from the impact of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
In early March, southeast Queensland and northern NSW bore the brunt of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred that left more than 200,000 people without power.
The cyclone was the first in more than 50 years to impact Queensland’s southeast.
