Townsville floods: Clean-up begins in city as regions now on alert
The Bureau of Meteorology says tonight will be the last night of significiant and dangerous rain in the Townsville region.
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THE Bureau of Meteorology says tonight will be the last night of significant and dangerous rain in Townsville.
Weather service manager Richard Wardle said there was still some risk for 24 hours, but that conditions would start to ease.
“Overnight tonight will probably be the last night where we will see those really heavy falls in a short period of time leading to that flash flooding,” Dr Wardle said..
“Finally looking ahead we expect to see a significant improvement in the weather conditions from Friday.”
He said conditions would improve as the active monsoon trough, which is embedded with a tropical low, finally started moving towards the coast.
Queensland’s chief health officer Jeanette Young warned residents returning to flood-ravaged homes that the mud and water left behind would be laced with sewage and other contaminants.
“I strongly strongly recommend that people wear very strong shoes working in that environment, boots, if they have them, and gloves,” she said.
“Cover up any cuts so that they don’t get contaminated and just check that they’re tetanus is up to date.”
She said any food that had touched floodwaters should be immediately thrown out.
Residents on Palm Island have been asked to boil all drinking water until further notice, because recent rain has impacted the water treatment plant.
Deputy Police Commissioner Bob Gee said rescuers were moving to recovery mode while “we’re still in response mode” and that places such as Halifax were still “touch and go”.
He said police were escorting convoys of food trucks along the Bruce Highway, which was cut about 20km north of Ingham, but warned motorists to obey all road closures.
“If roads say they are closed, they are closed, don’t go through them,” he said.
Emergency alerts had been issued for five more suburbs this morning, urging residents to move to higher ground.
Residents of Cluden, Rosslea, Hermit Park, Oonoonba, Idalia and Railway Estate were told about 11.45am their properties may experience flash flooding due to heavy rainfall, with the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services advising them to get to higher ground if concerned.
Further south, 10 days of heavy rain has resulted in long term road closures in the Whitsundays region.
The heavy rain comes as the vigorous monsoon trough and embedded tropical low that has battered Townsville over the past week moves south.
BOM has issued a weather warning for more heavy rains in the region over the next few days.
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An emergency alert was also issued for Lower Herbert by the Hinchinbrook Shire Council at 12.10pm. The message advised that flood levels on the Herbert River at Halifax were expected to peak at 5.5 metres this afternoon.
Residents of the Lower Herbert were advised to enact their household emergency plans.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today launched a Queensland Flood Appeal with the State Government tipping in the first $200,000.
“I just want to shout out to all of the people out there who are doing it tough and say that we are with you every step of the way and we know that in some of our communities people are isolated especially in the areas of Giru, Halifax, Charters Towers, Richmond, Hughenden and Julia Creek, we are doing everything we possibly can to get food supplies to you and make sure that we are listening and responding to your concerns,” she said.
More than 300 people remained in evacuation centres and more than 9000 remain without power, she said.
An emergency alert was issued overnight for the inland region of Hughenden, about 485km southwest of Townsville.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services warned residents that the Flinders River was expected to cause flooding on the north side of the river.
The message, issued about 1.30am, advised locals to warn neighbours, secure their belongings and move to higher ground if required.
PM CHANGES DISASTER FUNDING RULES AFTER VISIT
The federal government today announced it has relaxed the rules on who can access disaster funding following Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s tour of flood-struck Townsville. Previously, residents could only apply for federal government relief if they suffered damage to at least 25 per cent of their homes but that rule has been abolished, and they can now apply if water has gone over floorboards in their house.
“After seeing first-hand the challenges faced in Townsville yesterday, I asked for changes to be made last night to the eligibility for the disaster relief payment,” Mr Morrison tweeted today, less than 24 hours after visiting the city.
At least 2000 homes in the region have water over the floorboards, but potentially up to 10,000 sustained flooding damage.
The Insurance Council of Australia has so far processed 3500 claims worth $45 million as a result of the big wet, which is entering its 12th day.
LUCKY ESCAPE AFTER CAR OVERTURNS IN FLOODWATERS
THREE people including a young girl have had a lucky escape after their vehicle overturned in floodwaters. It comes as new warnings have been issued and Townsville starts a mammoth clean-up.
Emergency services received reports that a vehicle had tried to cross a flooded creek on Mackay Eungella Road, west of Mackay, just before 10pm last night.
A woman and man aged in their 40s and a primary school-aged girl were in the vehicle, which then overturned in the water.
All three occupants were able to free themselves from the vehicle, e with the man and child making it to safety.
The woman was swept away down the creek but was able to grab onto a tree and make her way out. The three were assessed by paramedics.
It comes as a new emergency alert was issued this morning.
Hundreds of people remain holed up in evacuation centres waiting for the floodwaters to recede in Townsville, while some others have been able to return to their homes.
About 10,000 Townsville properties remained without power this morning.
Meanwhile the people of Ingham and its surroundings are on high alert with major flood levels expected this morning.
A warning has been issued for the Herbert River after 85-130mm of rain was recorded in the Herbert catchment in the 12 hours to 5am today.
The Herbert River at Abergowrie Bridge is steady at 8.91m — the minor flood level being 6m.
It is likely to remain above 6m this morning.
The Herbert River at Ingham Pump Station is currently at 9.77m and rising, with levels to exceed the minor flood level of 10m this morning.
Townsville residents woke this morning to more rain. However Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Vinord Anand said the totals this morning were the lowest of the past week.
The Townsville Airport received 70mm. Only Rollingstone and Michael Creek west of Townsville recorded more than 150mm — with 173mm and 235mm respectively.
Mr Vinord said while the rain won’t stop completely around Townsville today, it wouldn’t be as “intense”, with showers to ease.
The Ross River Dam has continued to fall, sitting at 188.3 per cent earlier this morning.
An Air Force aircraft arrived in Townsville overnight, bringing much-needed supplies, after parts of the Bruce Highway were cut for several days, preventing food being trucked in.
OVERNIGHT
An investigation is under way into the conduct of police after Townsville’s big wet turned deadly when the bodies of Troy Mathieson, 23, and Hughie Morton, 21, were discovered in a drain.
Ethical Standards Command flew into Townsville from Brisbane to commence an investigation.
It is understood police were chasing the men from the scene of an alleged break-and-enter at Aitkenvale Monday morning.
Kandace Wyles, a cousin of the men, said she was devastated.
“They (the family) are not coping at all,” she said.
“They were beautiful boys.”
The two were last seen by police in the early hours of Monday morning when the flood crisis was at its worst.
The floods have seen Townsville endure its worst flood on record.
Hundreds of people remain holed up in evacuation centres across Townsville waiting for floodwaters to recede so they can return home.
The multimillion-dollar clean-up in Townsville has started as determined residents from Idalia, Rosslea and Hermit Park returned home to assess damage.
While the city braced for more rain overnight, 12 schools were due to reopen today.
Family belongings and furniture littered front yards while cars were strewn along streets, having been moved by the water.
The number of homes destroyed is unknown as the city is in “response mode”, but thousands were inundated.
The Ross River Dam was at about 189 per cent capacity this morning, after its gates were automatically tripped open Sunday night when it reached about 250 per cent.
In Townsville, Tania and Frank Giddy assessed the damage of their Idalia home after water tore through the four bedrooms, theatre room and office of their “baby” built 10 years ago.
Ms Giddy was at work when her husband fled.
“It was just an instinct,” Mr Giddy said.
“I was holding the dogs on top of my head when I was walking across a nearby bridge. It was fast flowing.”
Lachlan Gleeson, 27, and Erin Hanna, 25, were at a house over the weekend when floodwaters began rushing into the cul-de-sac outside.
The sheer volume of water began flooding houses across the street and started to build up along a fence at the end of the cul-de-sac.
Mr Gleeson and Ms Hanna joined with neighbours to break down the fence to allow water to flow out on to the street before getting out themselves.
“We took what we could and got out of there,” Ms Hanna said.
“The water just came racing in.”
Townsville-born-and-bred resident Greg Copnell was one of many who remained inside his home as water inundated those around him.
The Hermit Park resident refused to leave as floodwaters rose to the floorboards of his high-set Queenslander.
“I only began to worry at about 1am (Sunday) when it reached its peak,” he said.
“The water was almost up to the floorboards upstairs. I was never going to leave. I was going to go down with the ship.”
Mr Copnell and his partner remained safe and dry upstairs, but under the house was inundated with water and mud.
“All you can do is laugh,” he said.
“We’ll just have to wait until the water recedes now and then start cleaning up.”
Despite a brief respite yesterday, more rain is forecast to hit the region today and tomorrow. A further 160mm of rain could fall on Townsville before the weekend, following heavy falls around Proserpine and Mackay.
The Townsville area has had more than a year’s worth of rain in just 10 days.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Vinord Anand said Upper Bluewater (2140mm) and Paluma (2212mm) had smashed the average annual rainfall of 1127.9mm.
Ross River Dam had last night fallen to 193 per cent, but the water spilling from its gates was still “violent” yesterday afternoon.
Chopper pilot Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Martin, said the water had subsided quickly. “The worst depth of water was on the bottom of Idalia,” he said. “(In Rosslea) all you could see were the trees and half of the houses poking up at 9am on Monday morning. I’d say it’s come down 1.5 to 2m since then.
“The most significant thing was the extent of the inundation. For us, it was that we were able to get in there and get people out, it was pretty congested with debris.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited ground zero yesterday, reassuring the city it would receive all the necessary funding to help clean up.
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