Cockatoo rescued from Mossman flood waters
Two animal lovers have risked their lives by wading through waist deep flood water caused by Cyclone Jasper to save a bedraggled sulphur crested cockatoo.
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It was the white feathers of a bedraggled sulphur crested cockatoo that stood out against a brown flood torrent that swept through the Far North Queensland town of Mossman in the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper.
Animal lover Penni Lea Baxter was up like a shot, wading through the waist deep deluge to wrap the cold and wet bird in an old towel.
Heavy rain falling for the past 24 hours brought by the tail end of ex-Cyclone Jasper triggered a major flood warning for the Mossman River in a disaster event not experienced in the Far North sugar town since the major flood event in 2019.
Ms Lea Baxter handed the stricken bird to her neighbour, Mick Burford, who wrapped the bird up and delivered it to the relative safety of a flooded house on Mossman St.
“We’ve got low tide soon, so hopefully it will go down,” she said.
With her living room underwater and no power Ms Lea Baxter did her best to give the animal a chance of survival.
Similar scenes played out across Cyclones Jasper’s impact zone as coastal area were smashed on Wednesday by wind gusts up to 140km/h and a deluge in Mossman of 434mm in 24 hours.
Ex-Cyclone Jasper is expected to move into the Gulf of Carpentaria during Friday or Saturday as a tropical low, however heavy rain and flooding has been left behind in his wake.
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Originally published as Cockatoo rescued from Mossman flood waters
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