Weather battles on all fronts of Australia tries the bravest heart

Disastrous flooding in north Queensland, heatwave conditions in Adelaide and bushfires west of Melbourne underlined the lethal unpredictability of an Australian summer.

Ian McCubben checks the water flow at Aplins Weir as heavy rain lashes Townsville. Picture: Evan Morgan

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Emergency services are on the rack as disastrous flooding in north Queensland, heatwave conditions in Adelaide and bushfires west of Melbourne underlined the lethal unpredictability of an Australian summer.

The flood disaster unfolding across a 600km arc between Cardwell and Mackay in the tropical north intensified on Monday, ­engulfing hundreds of homes, displacing thousands of people and leading to swiftwater rescues.

Police were patrolling the evacuated “black zones” of Townsville to prevent looting after residents of low-lying suburbs bordering Ross River were ordered to leave. More than 1700 homes were at risk of being submerged before the flood reaches its expected peak on Tuesday.

The sugar-growing centre of Ingham, from where Queensland Premier David Crisafulli hails, was without mains power for a second day and struggling to come to terms with the death of a 63-year-old local woman, one of six people thrown into floodwaters when an SES boat struck a tree and capsized on Sunday.

A large-capacity generating unit was being rushed to the community of 4500, an hour north of Townsville, to power its water and sewage treatment systems.

Mr Crisafulli said of his hometown: “This is a very sad time. It’s a small community, a tight-knit community.”

Compounding the chaos, the state’s most important road link will be cut for an indefinite period north of Townsville following the collapse of a Bruce Highway bridge over Ollera Creek, leaving a 6m hole in the span. This will hamper efforts to send relief and supplies to dozens of flood-hit communities, including Ingham, where up to 7000 homes and businesses remain blacked out.

Townsville’s Lavarack army base was on standby to deploy helicopters for rescue and supply missions overnight. Troops have helped police and SES personnel doorknock the city’s so-called black zone – six flood-prone southern suburbs, plus Bluewater to the north – amid concern that householders were risking their lives by refusing to evacuate.

An aerial view of flood-affected areas around Townsville. Picture: Queensland Fire Department

Dozens of swiftwater rescues were conducted on Monday, highlighting the danger.

In Victoria, firefighters were readying for hot, northerly winds to fan a bushfire in the Grampian ranges, west of Melbourne.

Temperatures topped 41C in Adelaide and 37C in Melbourne on Monday. The South Australian capital, blanketed in smoke haze from the Victorian fires, faces a continuation of the heatwave through the week.

Before flying to the disaster zone in north Queensland, Mr Crisafulli said the scale of the flooding had been experienced only a “handful of times”, despite the region’s long history of dealing with cyclones and heavy rainfall.

Jersey Ford, 10, checks out Aplins Weir is it overflows. Picture: Adam Head

Cumulative rainfall of up to 1200mm had been recorded near Townsville over the past week, with the city being deluged by 600mm in the 24-hour period to Monday. The onslaught was expected to ease into Tuesday, but a low-pressure system embedded in a monsoonal trough off Ingham would continue to deliver falls of up to 300mm, the Bureau of Meteorology warned.

Ingham Mayor Ramon Jayo said the Herbert River was due to peak at 15m. Up to 400 homes had been inundated, though many were highset and might have ­escaped serious damage.

Mr Jayo said emergency services and volunteers had performed wonders to reach stranded residents at the height of the crisis, when the river burst its banks and sent up to 3m of floodwater churning through the streets. The arrival of four swiftwater rescue crews from Queensland Fire and Rescue Services had been delayed a day by the intensity of the rain, ­increasing the pressure on local resources.

Coles Ingham duty manager Marcia Glindemann was collected by the SES to open the grocery store and provide food to the Ingham evacuation centre. Picture: Supplied

Ingham Woolworths assistant store manager, Julie Buckley, was picked up by SES to open the supermarket to emergency services. Picture: Supplied

When it mattered most, neighbours had helped each other. “It’s a massive flood, right. And you know, we’re very happy with the response … there were delays but you’ve got to understand that,” Mr Jayo told The Australian. “We were down on resources because all the flood boats we had been ­allocated couldn’t arrive on time. We couldn’t fly them in by helicopter because the weather was just so torrential. The helicopters couldn’t fly in those conditions.”

Assistant manager of the Ingham Woolworths, Julie Buckley, and her counterpart at Coles, Marcia Glindemann, were collected by SES crews and ferried to work to open the supermarkets and provide supplies to an evacuation centre at the local high school. Ms Buckley, who moved to the area two years ago from Airlie, said was happy to be helping.

“Opening the doors … was the least I could do to help the community that’s made me feel so welcome,” she said.

Mr Crisafulli said the priority was a temporary fix for the downed Bruce Highway bridge at Ollera Creek, but longer term the crossing would be upgraded.

Damaged infrastructure had to be replaced with more resilient ­installations.

“Queenslanders are tired of seeing the same thing replaced to the same standard, expecting a different result – and I’m tired of it,” the Premier said.

BOM forecaster Matt Collopy said the worst of the monsoonal storm appeared to be over, with computer models showing the low-pressure system was weakening.