Queensland floods: Daintree community cut off from Cape York

The Daintree rainforest community will soon be reconnected after being cut off amid the worst flooding in more than a century.

The ticket booth and office for Daintree River Wildlife Cruise underwater.

The Daintree rainforest community will soon be reconnected with the rest of Cape York after being cut off at the weekend following a deluge which led to the worst flooding in more than a century.

The river peaked at close to 12.6 metres on Saturday night, breaking the previous record of 12.4m which was set in 1901.

There have been no reported injuries or deaths, with most of the damage to the local road network.

Water charging down the crocodile-infested river also dislodged a ticket booth, ripped a public pontoon from its footings, and swept away a water tank at a block of toilets.

Almost 500mm of rain fell on the river in 24 hours, beginning on Friday night.

Ferry services across the Daintree River were cancelled because of debris in the water and mud being dumped onto the surrounding roads.

Douglas Council Mayor Julia Leu said the rain had now stopped and council crew were working to get the ferry back into service this evening.

“Thankfully, the sun is out and we are clearing the road and getting ready for the ferry service to resume … at 5pm tonight,’’ she said.

“Given this is the biggest flood in living memory, our council crews & ferry contractors have done an awesome job to clear the debris from the flooding so quickly.”

The monsoon trough that swamped the Daintree area is tracking south, with communities from Ingham to just north of Mackay braced for possible flooding.

A severe weather warning is current for coastal and inland communities that could see six-hour rainfall totals of up to 150mm.

A Flood Watch is current for catchments from Innisfail to Proserpine.