Heartbreaking scenes as floodwaters inundate Mossman homes
Streets have become waterways in Mossman as the river broke its banks at 3am Wednesday morning, flooding peoples homes. Watch the video.
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Streets have become waterways in Mossman as the river broke its banks at 3am Wednesday morning, flooding peoples homes.
Mick Burford, 55, speaking from the flooded downstairs section of his Mossman Street home, said he was woken by a knock at the front door by authorities in the early hours of Thursday morning.
“The dogs were screaming, I was asleep in there, and yeah. It’s under,” he said.
“So we just moved upstairs. There’s nothing you can do.”
“There’s all sandbag here,” he said, stepping on a submerged doorway.
Mr Burford said he had just been in the process of waterproofing the house.
But the water gushed in and now sits a good metre above the sandbagging line with debris floating above it.
“We were expecting a little bit but not this,” he said as he walked through the tepid, greyish-brown water.
“We flood all the time but I’ve never seen it this bad.”
“That’s life, what can you do about it?”
A few doors up, people were leaving their homes as the water rose.
“I’ve got no phone. I’ve go internet. I don’t want to watch my house go under,” Tessa Smith, who left holding with few bags with all her belongings, explained.
“Unless you are in a two-storey there is no point staying. I’m so tired and I can’t even see the BoM radar.”
But amid the heartbreak, there was more a feeling of stoicism than panic as people mulled their options.
Mossman Street resident Crocca said he was planning on staying but was going to leave if the water got significantly higher.
“If it comes any further I’m going” he said.
“There’s really nothing you do about it, is there?” he said, as his next door neighbor walked past with his pet birds in a cage.
“I need to take this with me, cook them up if I get hungry,” the neighbour joked.
Something else flooded the street on Thursday morning, together with the coffee-coloured Mossman River: good humour and positivity.
Several young teenagers who lived on the street admitting they found the experience “fun”.
Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr told the Cairns Post: “Mossman had one rescue with a house being inundated with water from the rising Mossman river.”
“Houses affected by the river have been evacuated to friends and family until the heavy rains subside.”
Another 300mm of rain is expected to fall again today, with the possibility Mossman may be flooded in from all sides.
But as Mr Burford said, that’s life in the tropics.
“We flood all the time,” he said.
“Not this bad. This is the worst they have seen it. This is the lowest area in Mossman. The only (other) thing they need to worry about is the crocs.”
The Mossman River broke its banks in the early hours of Thursday morning.
At 10am a high tide of 2.83m caused an already swollen Mossman River to fully inundate low lying areas of the Mossman.
While by 12pm water had begun to recede, a slightly lower tide of 2.78m will peak at 11am on Friday.
Stoic residents of Mossman St who were forced to wade through waist high water to access their properties were concerned heavy rain continuing to fall, on top of a 434mm inundation in the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday, would combine to keep river levels elevated.
Tricia Murphy said she woke at 2.30am to the sinking realisation her house was going under.
“That’s when we realised that it went over,” she said.
“The SES helped me move my car and the police came around and wanted to know if we had a plan and what we were doing.”
Six-year-old Hayley shrieked as a vehicle dangerously drives up the street submerged under 1m of water and a bow wave radiates toward the house, where the Murphy family is huddled on the porch with their two French bulldogs.
Significant river level rises have occurred along the Mossman River with river heights reaching similar levels as the January 2019 flood event, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
There is a major flood warning for the Daintree and Mossman rivers.
Video from the fringe of Jasper’s eye reveals Mother Nature’s fury
Dramatic video footage from the fringe of Cyclone Jasper’s eye has shown the ferocious impact of 140km wind gusts on the Far North coastline.
The category 2 system is currently rolling in over the top of the Indigenous community of Wujal Wujal, 170km north of Cairns.
Sustained winds near the centre of the system have been measured at 100km/h according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
From the Dayman Point boat ramp, 40km from the eye of the storm, winds from the south tore along the coast whipping up head-high waves, tearing foliage from limbs and uprooting trees.
Daintree, Mossman, Julatten and Port Douglas at 6.45pm joined about 30,000 homes in Cairns and the Cassowary Coast to be plunged into darkness, according to Ergon Energy.
People between Wujal Wujal and Innisfail, including Cairns should remain inside until the cyclone has passed and listen to the next advice.
Later tonight the system is expected to weaken as it heads inland, however a storm tide on Thursday is expected along the north Queensland coast with total waters generally expected to approach or marginally exceed the highest astronomical tide level.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday impacts of the category 2 storm sitting less than 100km off the Port Douglas coast are beginning to be felt as trees come down and wild swells lash the coast.
Cyclone Jasper is crawling west at 13km/h, and a crossing of the coast near Wujal Wujal has again been delayed.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s best estimate now has the storm’s eye hitting the remote coastline south of Cooktown at midnight.
The storm was officially upgraded to a category 2 storm just after 2pm on Wednesday.
Though earlier on Wednesday only a category 1 storm, the wind gusts of up to 120km/h have uprooted trees and loosened roofing sheets in older homes in the Mossman area.
SES volunteers from southern Queensland were busy wielding chainsaws on Port Douglas Rd on Wednesday morning.
Team leader Darren Ranger, based in Mossman, said he expected to respond to residents needing help with leaking roofs, clearing fallen trees and flooding as the rain set in.
“Today we’re expecting tarping and what we call jobs of opportunity,” he said.
“And potentially floods and rising floods.”
Mr Ranger said he expected most call-outs for roof damage to be inland from the resort town of Port Douglas where there was a greater concentration of older properties.
“We’ve already been to one this morning that had roof damage,” he said.
“The team’s in good spirits so far, we travelled up from Brisbane yesterday so this is our first day and we will leave Saturday, depending on the circumstances.”
According to the Bureau, Tropical Cyclone Jasper may intensify to category 2 before crossing the coast causing destructive wind gusts later on Wednesday.
Authorities have advised residents to remain vigilant and to stay indoors where possible.
However many in Port Douglas appear undeterred and have been out and about taking photos and video of swell crashing at Four Mile Beach and strong winds from the Flagstaff Hill lookout.
A warning for Atherton Tablelands has been issued by Tablelands Regional Council urging residents to prepare now to take shelter.
Ergon Energy has warned of the dangers of fallen powerlines which should be treated as live and potentially deadly.
The electricity provider advised more than 500 field crews across Queensland are at the ready to support the restoration effort in the wake of the storm.
TUESDAY
Port Douglas is on red alert, the marina is empty, the streets are largely deserted and an eerie calm has descended over the region ahead of the touch down of Cyclone Jasper.
Boats have headed up Dickson Inlet, resorts have moved all outdoor furniture inside and waterfront shops have sandbagged properties.
But despite threatening winds of 95km/h gusting to 130km/h most appear largely unconcerned about an expected onslaught from Mother Nature who is also tipped to bring a half metre storm surge above the astronomical tide and a five day rain accumulation of up to 600mm.
But as of 7.30am on Wednesday little rain had fallen but winds had picked up.
According to the latest Bureau of Meteorology information the storm will cross the coast at Wujal Wujal at about 6pm as a category 2 cyclone.
But Port Douglas being in the southern sections of the storm quadrant is expected to bear the full brunt of the system’s impact.
🌀Latest track map for TC Jasper. Tropical Cyclone Jasper, Category 2 strength, is expected to impact the Far North Queensland coast during Wednesday. https://t.co/abjo0qiR5Xpic.twitter.com/oW65vPJxVp
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) December 12, 2023
Commercial fisherman Bruce Tebbit spent the afternoon helping boaties move vessels up into the mangroves of Dickson Inlet.
He was surprised the leading edge of the system had not brought heavy rain, given the system was about 200km off the Port Douglas coast.
“It’s definitely coming, you can feel it. It’s eerie and still, like the calm before the storm,” he said.
Chilean Sea Temple Port Douglas worker Pablo Rigo-Righi spent the eve of the storm fishing in front of St Mary’s Chapel by the Sea.
He was not sure what to expect but was aware of Port Douglas being in the firing line.
“I will stay home and close the doors and hope it will be OK,” he said.
Maritime Safety Queensland has declared an emergency warning for the Port Douglas harbour along with Mourilyan, Cairns, Port Douglas, Cooktown and Cape Flattery.
Ollie Olekers said his main concern was unsecured boats moored on poles at Dickson Inlet and Port Douglas being in the lower quadrant of the cyclone which meant intensity of the winds would be greater than within the eye of the storm.
“Some people don’t really follow instructions to secure their boat in the storm,” he said.
“Other boats may break loose and if it ends up being pretty intense we may end up getting damaged from other boats.
“It’s the same headache, especially for longer term boats that are not meant to be there, it stuffs it up for everyone else.”
The Bureau has warned of destructive wind gusts hitting the coast late on Wednesday afternoon or evening between Hopevale and Cairns.
Tropical Cyclone Jasper may intensify to category 2 before making landfall but should weaken quickly as it moves inland overnight tonight as it moves over Cape York Peninsula.
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