Rescue effort saves hundreds as Townsville floods peak
A flotilla of tinnies and army boats was used to rescue hundreds of people from their flooded homes yesterday, while two people are still missing.
A flotilla of tinnies and army boats was used to rescue hundreds of people from their flooded homes yesterday at the peak of the worst floods in Townsville’s history, with police, emergency services and soldiers stretched to the limit.
Two men are feared to be washed away by floodwaters after running away from the scene of an alleged looting on Ross River Road in Townsville yesterday. Police said the pair, identified as 23-year-old Troy Mathieson and 21-year-old Hughie Morton, may have been swept into a drain.
“There is a possibility that they have entered flowing water near the Dan Murphy’s,” Townsville Police District Duty Officer Ian Wilkie said in a press conference yesterday.
Meanwhile, thousands of homes were evacuated on Sunday night and yesterday morning after the floodgates at the Ross River dam were fully opened as it reached 245 per cent capacity.
Monsoonal rain that has lashed the region since January 29 eased yesterday but was expected to continue overnight, with forecasters warning of falls of up to 400mm and possible cyclonic winds between Townsville and Mackay.
Rain is predicted for the rest of the week, but the monsoon trough that hovered over Townsville for a week is expected to move south.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said it was difficult to predict what the next 24 hours would bring but assured residents: “We will protect you as much as we can.”
The council has received criticism from some community members over the decision to switch the control of the floodgates from manual, which had been releasing 1000 cubic metres of water a second, to automatic, which sent nearly 2000 cubic metres a second downstream.
A frustrated Ms Hill said the council had warned residents in low-lying areas to evacuate. “We doorknocked for three days,” she said. “Some people were doorknocked twice. You can’t say you weren’t warned that something could happen. What do you have to do to make people move?”
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Katarina Carroll said authorities had conducted 18 swift-water rescues and helped with 1100 relocations since Sunday.
Authorities had issued an alert on Sunday that up to 20,000 homes could experience some sort of inundation after the dam gates were opened.
By late last night, it was estimated that several thousand properties were flooded. Residents were warned to keep out of the floodwaters amid sightings of crocodiles and snakes.
Two police officers helping evacuated residents were among those rescued by swift-water crews on Sunday as their patrol car was washed away, leaving them clinging to a tree.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who flew into the disaster zone on Sunday afternoon, said the damage bill could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
Dozens of private tinnies were used, along with army boats, trucks and council dump trucks, yesterday to help rescue trapped residents. More than 3,200 locals have already applied for disaster relief with many homes underwater and unlovable.
Among the worst-hit suburbs were Idalia and Annandale, south of the Ross River, where about 400 people were helped to safety.
A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall and damaging winds was issued at 5pm Monday for people between Ingham and Mackay.
Danielle and Lyndon Jasey abandoned their Idalia home on Sunday night.
They returned briefly yesterday to pick up valuables but were shocked by the amount of water in their low-lying suburb. “It was horrible,” Mrs Jasey said.
“You couldn’t understand the extent of it. “Mum had to get the fence cut down with an axe to get her out. Last night we called the SES four times to get Dad out but there was such a backlog they couldn’t get him out. It’s terrible, absolutely devastating.”
Mrs Jasey said the flotilla of tinnies, loaded into the floodwaters from trailers on the swamped Stuart Road, just off the Bruce Highway, was an “amazing” example of community support. Rugby league players from the North Queensland Cowboys were among those helping residents to safety.
Boats loaded with people travelled back and forth from the flooded streets, dropping shocked, sodden families off at the side of the road, where they were taken to evacuation centres or picked up by friends.
Mr Jasey said there was waist-high water through every house in the suburb. “Fridges, dryers are just floating, and there’s cars under,” he said.
Schools in the region will remain closed today but Townsville airport, which was closed to all flights on Sunday afternoon, was reopened yesterday.
Hermit Park resident Terry Rowland, 82, was yesterday helped from his two-storey apartment by police.
He said he had lived in the complex for 25 years, including during the infamous Night of Noah in 1998, when 886mm of rain fell in a week.
That record was eclipsed on Sunday when the weekly total was recorded at 1012mm. “That (Night of Noah) was a bit of dribble compared to this,” he said.
Hyde Park couple Dennis Foley and Brenda Watkins said the water had risen quickly on Sunday night. “Within half an hour it was up to our knees,” Mr Foley said.
- With AAP
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