Qld weather: Townsville locals urged to leave as NQ’s cyclonic rain continues
Townsville residents have been set an evacuation deadline as they face possible “life-threatening” flooding up to the second storeys of buildings, with thousands ordered to leave their homes by midday on Sunday or risk their lives.
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Townsville residents have been set an evacuation deadline as they face possible “life-threatening” flooding up to the second storeys of buildings, with thousands ordered to leave their homes by midday on Sunday or risk their lives.
Parts of the city have copped more than 460mm of rain since 9am Friday from a monsoonal trough off the Queensland coast with six-hourly rainfall totals between 200 to 300mm likely over the next few days, with 24-hour totals up to 600mm possible.
An emergency warning is in place for some Townsville suburbs including Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea to evacuate by midday on Sunday.
Flooding to second-storey floors is possible and single-storey buildings could be fully flooded.
At 8pm, the Townsville Local Disaster Management Group issued an emergency warning to residents in Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea saying they must leave by midday on Sunday.
“Water in the Ross River is rising fast and there will be dangerous and life-threatening flooding. Your life may be at risk,” the warning said.
“You have until midday Sunday 2 February evacuate safely. Prepare now and leave as soon as you can. Do not wait for further advice or emergency services to come to your door.”
The LDMG advises some homes and buildings will be fully flooded, with flooding to second-storey floors possible.
Queensland Police earlier went door-to-door in several suburbs on Saturday – including Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea – urging more than 3100 residents to get out before flood waters rose after a Watch and Act warning was issued. But many of the resilient residents chose to stay in their homes and wait out the weather – almost six years to the day from the catastrophic 2019 Townsville floods.
■ Full list of NQ road closures
Extra State Emergency Services, QPS, and Queensland Fire Department officers have been deployed from Brisbane to assist with the emergency, which has already seen eight swift water rescues in the region up until Saturday afternoon.
In Halifax, 130km north of Townsville, the Halifax Hotel was inundated with water but said it would continue to operate to serve the community and to offer “support to our SES, QFS, and QPS”.
Premier David Crisafulli sent a powerful message to the people impacted by wild weather, including to his father Tony in his hometown of Ingham – which has also been lashed by rain.
“They’re going OK,” he said. “And it doesn’t matter whether you’ve been through one wet season or many, it’s important that you listen to advice, and that goes for you, Dad.”
Mr Crisafulli said those who were being asked to leave by emergency services should heed those warnings.
It comes after Opposition leader Steven Miles slammed the Premier for being underprepared for the horrific weather event, saying he failed to convene the disaster management committee before the storm hit. But Mr Crisafulli rubbished the claims and said they were well-prepared.
“Firstly Queenslanders need to know we are well prepared … we were putting a lot of resources into preparing ahead of this season and I want Queenslanders to know that we have prepared better than ever before,” he said.
“The most important thing is we get through this without a loss of life.”
A major flood warning has been issued for the Ross and Bohle Rivers from about midday on Sunday, as controlled releases continue at Ross River Dam.
Townsville Local Disaster Management Group chairman Andrew Robinson said rainfall was higher than expected, but the weather event was not on the same scale as the 2019 monsoonal trough.
“Here we are experiencing an unusual weather pattern, the dam levels may rise to the levels of 2019 – according to our worst case scenarios – but as with all disaster planning you plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Mr Robinson said.
District Disaster Coordinator Superintendent Graeme Paine urged those who have been advised to leave their properties to take it seriously.
“We’re moving into an area where there is a life-threatening risk around flooding and flash flooding,” Supt Paine said.
“Make no mistake – this is a very serious situation.”
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Matt Collopy warned on Saturday that residents should expect “cyclonic levels” of rainfall in the coming days with isolated totals of 600mm possible despite three possible tropical cyclones off Queensland most likely not developing.
“You don’t need a tropical cyclone to concentrate the monsoon and get these extreme rainfall totals,” he said.
“And often even in a cyclone, it is the rainfall that has the most impact.”
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner and Disaster Management Coordinator Shane Chelepy said the weather event was “very serious and dangerous” and that the next 24 hours forecast would be critical to moving forward.
Residents were seen walking in floodwaters on Saturday with police warning people to not risk their lives.
“We saw some very scary incidents around Townsville with people being washed away in floodwaters,” Mr Chelepy said. “On the back of that can I please leave a message for people to please stay out of floodwaters.”
Fifty extra swift water rescue crews have also been deployed to Townsville in preparation for severe flooding. Low-lying areas of Railway Estate swelled with water from about 11am on Saturday, with many residents choosing to stay in their homes.
Railway Estate resident Jordan Upton wasn’t fazed by the rain, walking home through his flooded street with a carton of Victoria Bitter under his arm. He said their street experienced tidal flooding often.
“It was worse yesterday, I couldn’t get through the street,” Mr Upton said.
Dozens of roads around the region had been closed, including the Bruce Hwy south of the city. Mr Crisafulli slammed the state of the highway, saying weather events like the one currently hitting North Queensland show how terrible the road is.
“The Bruce Hwy is a terrible road and I’ve described it as a goat track for a long time and events like this expose how bad it is and that’s why we’ve put in place for the first time in a generational plan,” he said.
Originally published as Qld weather: Townsville locals urged to leave as NQ’s cyclonic rain continues
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