Biggest flood in a century hits Cairns

Far north Queensland hit with its biggest flood since records began as local mayors plead for military assistance before water runs out at 10am tomorrow.

A regional flood expert said the current flooding in far north Queensland is the highest since records began more than a century ago, as ex-tropical cyclone Jasper continues to wreak havoc.

James Cook University’s Professor Jonathan Nott told ABC Far North that the flood is now up to 40 per cent higher than the 1977 flood, previously the biggest on record for the region.

“It’s a very, very serious flood,” Professor Nott said.

“1977 was previously the largest flood in the gauge record, and this one has exceeded the 1977 record by around about 30-40 per cent again on top of that, so it’s a very substantial flood.”

Cairns residents have been told to conserve as much water as possible, as Mayor Terry James has warned the city only has 14 hours of clean water supply left.

“Our intakes for our water supply are blocked and with roads being closed, our crews can’t get in to clean those intakes out.”

“It is an emergency,” he said.

“If we can’t unblock it, we will run out of water in the reservoirs by 10am tomorrow.”

“If we run out of supply from the reservoirs, there is no contingency plan.”

“We’re urging people to conserve water at this stage.”

A major water catchment, Tinaroo Falls Dam, has begun spilling over.

Cairns Regional Council has advises that water should only be used for emergency purposes, as the city’s water treatment plants are offline due to the ongoing flooding.

Mr James said roads from Cairns were now cut off to the north, south and west, and he has been discussing the possibility of military assistance with the state government as State Emergency Service crews were now “absolutely overwhelmed”.

His calls for military assistance were echoed by Douglas Mayor Michael Kerr.

“We need to get resources here,” he said.

“Normal domestic flights obviously aren’t going to happen – Cairns Airport is closed.”

“We need help, we need people on the ground.”

“Everyone on the emergency side of it has been going since pre-Jasper – they’re absolutely exhausted.”

Flooding has cut roads. Picture: Kurt McDonald.

Meanwhile, the fate of two men is unknown after they were forced to evacuate to the roof of their ranger station in torrential rain at a remote Cape York property last night without supplies.

Police received a call from a member of the public, reporting the situation, at about 11.40pm on Saturday.

“Last night it was too dangerous to get the helicopter out. The plan was to get there this morning, but the helicopter cannot deploy due to dangerous weather. The earliest crews can deploy is midday,” a police spokeswoman said.

“They are still on the roof and have been since 3am.”

“(It’s been reported) they have no shelter, no water and no food.”

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said crews would have done “ over 1,000 damage assessments” in the past 24 hours, along with ongoing rescues throughout the floodzone.

Residents have been attempting to rescue cows from the Barron River.

In the aftermath of ex-tropical cyclone Jasper, rainfall totals in excess of 450mm have been recorded in some parts between the Daintree and Ingham in the past day alone.

New Queensland premier Steven Miles described the event as a “serious weather emergency”.

Mr Miles said more than 10,000 people are now without power, with around 4,500 having been cut off since ex-tropical cyclone Jasper made landfall at about 3pm last Wednesday, south of Wujal Wujal near Cape Tribulation.

Cows have been swept away in the Barron River, with local residents coming to their rescue while residents of Bluewater Estate at Trinity Park have been advised to leave immediately if safe to do so or move to the highest safe part of their houses.

Cairns Airport has been closed to flight arrivals since 12:45pm Sunday and departures since 2pm.

Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker said: “If things play out well, we could be open again if it’s safe to do so tomorrow, otherwise it could be a couple of days.”

Roads in the area have suffered significant damage. Picture: Transport and Main Roads Queensland.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has warned that they are “not seeing an easing trend” with heavy rain expected to continue to fall until Tuesday.

BOM senior meteorologist Laura Boekel said 21 rain gauges have received over a metre of rain in the last week.

“We’re still seeing really large amounts of rainfall falling today, and they’re falling therefore into catchments that have seen such big totals over the last seven days, that they’re responding really rapidly to any further rainfall.”

Ms Boekel said the risk of flash flooding remains “very real” for the rest of Sunday, Sunday night and into Monday.

Flooding has hit residential neighbourhoods in far north Queensland. Picture: Daniel Bateman/X.

There are currently major flood warnings for the Daintree River, the Barron River, the Mulgrave River, the Johnstone River Catchment, the Tully and Murray Rivers and the Herbert River.

There are also flood warnings in place for the Mossman and Russell Rivers.

Severe weather warnings are in place for Cairns, Port Douglas, Innisfail, Mareeba, Mossman, Palmerville, Atherton, Julatten and Redlynch.

Local resident Daniel Bateman wrote on X: “Unprecedented flooding in Machans and Holloways Beach – highest in more than 50 years. Water is waist deep and rising in the middle of our street. Neighbours are evacuating.”

Flooding has also closed sections of the Captain Cook Highway, cutting access between Smithfield and Yorkeys Knob, wth many other roads in the region also damaged and closed.

Originally published as Biggest flood in a century hits Cairns