Animal rescuers inundated with calls as floods ravage habitats
Rescuers have had their hands full saving animals from rising floodwaters in Queensland, with hundreds of calls for help.
A koala has been rescued from rapidly rising floodwaters in Queensland while animal rescue services were inundated with emergency calls.
After a battering of rain, wind and hail Queensland’s south east is again bracing for more wild weather.
Homes have been flooded, roofs fallen and potholes created in roads.
Alongside this devastation, animal habitats have been ruined.
Brisbane conservation group The Rescue Collective explained how one of their volunteers saved half a dozen koalas on Sunday night.
“This is after our local koala rescuer had already saved five other koalas in the area in the hours before. The rain has slowed finally over our area but a high tide is on it’s way. Rescues can hopefully begin today,” the post said.
“The animals coming in, the food and supplies lost; this won’t cost lightly and the journey to recovery will be long for the animals and those who face the uphill post-flood rehabilitation battle.”
The group said it has received more than 500 calls for animal rescues in Brisbane and its surrounding areas.
SPCA Queensland has also been busy and said it had received 510 animal rescue calls from Brisbane, Logan, Scenic Rim, Toowoomba, Somerset, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Gympie council areas since Wednesday last week.
Queenslanders have been warned to brace for another dramatic deluge with a new round of storms to hit this afternoon.
Residents in Grantham, east of Toowoomba, are being evacuated as a precaution as more wild weather arrives in the region.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the move comes amid “serious concern” for people and homes from Brisbane all the way to Bundaberg.
“Across the entire southeast. I am asking people to think about not being on the roads tomorrow and staying at home,” she said.
“The conditions are going to be unstable for the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Ms Palaszczuk also advised parents in the area to collect their children from school “when it is safe” if they live between Bundaberg and northern Moreton Bay.
“It is a serious situation. These are unprecedented times,” she said.
“I have lived in Brisbane essentially all my life and I haven’t seen storms and floods like this. All being thrown at us at once.
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“We will get through it together but it is of course a very concerning time.”
Schools will be open on Friday for children of essential workers.
In other areas across the state’s southeast, schools can decide whether or not to remain open for the rest of the week.
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