‘It’s a perfect storm’ Roads cut, Gulf towns told to evacuate
Heavy rain has wreaked havoc on remote Gulf communities. Buildings are underwater, animals lost and communication patchy as Burke Shire residents make for higher ground.
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Heavy rainfall in the Far North has wreaked havoc on remote communities in the Gulf region as residents in the Burke Shire prepare to evacuate.
The warning comes after Burketown recorded 280mm of rain overnight.
Remote towns have been cut off from land and air with a large section of the Burketown airstrip reportedly underwater.
Burke Shire Mayor Ernie Camp said things took a turn for the worse overnight on Monday with heavy rain and high tides raising water levels.
“Last night things weren’t too serious but now having heavy rainfall in the upper catchment has turned that around,” Cr Camp said.
“Tirranna Roadhouse and all the buildings there are underwater. All the roads are cut and some properties have self-evacuated to Gregory or Cloncurry.”
Mr Camp said the airport flooded will have a substantial impact on carrier Rex airlines that services the region.
“A substantial amount of runway is underwater, which will have a bigger impact than normal in that flights from Rex have been using the airport to take in jet engine fuel, so they won’t be able to stop and fuel at Burketown. This means they won’t be able to take on as many passengers or freight,” Cr Camp said.
Thunderstorm forecast for TODAY (7/3): Severe thunderstorms with intense rainfall & damaging wind gusts possible about the #GulfCountry & parts of the #NorthWest, and along the tropical coast between #Innisfail & #Rollingstone. Monitor warnings at https://t.co/3gZiYYJApipic.twitter.com/AOMSYG2ZAU
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) March 7, 2023
Cr Camp said contact between properties was limited with many relying on landline phones.
“It’s complicated because a lot of landlines and mobiles have failed. A lot of people rely on Wi-Fi but that’s also been problematic and satellite doesn’t work if it’s cloudy,” he said.
“It’s turning into a perfect storm.”
In the remote town of Tirranna residents have reported losing pets and farm animals. According to a resident, all but one building was under water.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said rain in the Gulf was not expected to ease until Friday.
“Heavy falls are still possible but they’ll start to be a bit more spread out and not quite as heavy,” the spokesman said.
“The northwest will keep getting rain across the next couple of days but not to the same extent that we’ve been seeing today.”
Major flood warnings are still in place for Flinders River, minor flood warnings for the Norman River, Nicholson and Cloncurry.
No further flooding is expected for the Barron River after 90mm of rain fell across the catchment in the past 24-hours to 9am Tuesday morning.
The Barron River at Kamerunga Bridge peaked at 3.59 metres, below the minor flood level, around Monday evening and is currently at 2.44 metres and falling.
River levels are generally easing in the catchment downstream of Tinaroo Dam through to Kamerunga Bridge during Tuesday, according to the Bureau.
The Barron River at Cairns Airport peaked at 2.28 metres during Monday morning, below the minor flood level, and is currently at 1.68 metres and falling with the tide, the Bureau reported at 10am Tuesday.
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