Cardwell in the grip of a major flooding event
Unsecured gas bottles and floating debris surrounds inundated homes; inside, floating fridges and furniture bounce around darkened properties. This is how Cardwell is faring after catastrophic flooding.
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Cardwell residents are grappling with the loss of everything after 1.5m of water surged through low-lying properties on Sunday night.
Locals have reported 1000mm of rain in three days that triggered what long-time residents are calling a once-in-a-lifetime flood event.
The rain was still falling on Monday afternoon as the murky brown deluge receded, leaving a thick coating of mud through homes set back from the Bruce Highway.
Unsecured gas bottles and floating debris surrounded inundated homes; inside, floating fridges and furniture bounce around darkened properties as generators fire up and the rescue helicopter flies overhead.
Only two days before floodwaters surged through their low-set home Pam and Ted Fay welcomed visiting family from Darwin.
After Ergon Energy cut power to parts of Cardwell on Sunday night, it was the neighbour that came to the rescue in a kayak.
“My daughter has only been here two days, we had to get them out,” Ms Fay said.
The former motor mechanic and schoolteacher cashed in their super to buy the now-decimated property two years after CycloneYasi.
My Fay said the house withstood the category 5 tropical storm, after which the former owner told him the only thing that needed fixing was the TV antenna on the roof.
It was on February 3, 14 years ago that Cyclone Yasi made landfall just north of Cardwell.
Neighbour Tracy Ebert said the upstairs level of her house was the only place her neighbours could go.
“(David) brought the couple over and the little girl first and then went back to get Ted and Pam,” she said.
“We had a spare room, so that’s where they slept and that’s where they will stay for the rest of the week, their house was three quarters under.
“We thought that house next door would never go under water, it was just insane.”
Ms Ebert grew up in Cardwell and said she has never experienced water levels similar to what happened on Sunday night.
Talking in knee deep water of her Clitheroe St home, the impact of the loss was yet to fully hit.
“All I could think about was taking stuff from downstairs to upstairs, then I thought ‘you know what, this flood is going to come up all the way through our house,’ we were prepared to get on the roof,” she said.
“It came up five stairs from the top floor and that was really scary.”
Water had begun to recede on Monday afternoon but many properties remained underwater as thoughts turned to the recovery effort.
‘Came up so fast’: Community in grip of major flooding event
Cardwell residents are without power and extremely limited telecommunications amid concern for the flood-affected Far North township’s most vulnerable and elderly community members.
It comes as Premier David Crisafulli announced he will visit devastated communities near Townsville, Ingham and further north this week.
Flash flooding overnight forced Ergon Energy to shut off its Cardwell substation, with homes inundated and authorities doorknocking flood-prone areas.
The deluge and outages have led to mobile and landline service outages in the seaside village, with stores closing and ATMs not working.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Matt Collopy said while rain was likely to ease between Innisfail and Townsville, floodwaters may still rise.
“We’re talking about 150-300mm over the next 24 hours,” Mr Collopy said.
“But those numbers are much less than the numbers of up to 600mm we’ve seen over the last two-to-three days.
“It’s substantially less … as we get to Thursday and Friday those numbers continue to drop off. But we’ll watch it very closely.”
Telstra regional general manager Rachel Cliffe said the flood had led to major internet and phone outages across the Far North.
“Our network sites have back up power which are continuing to keep many services running and we’re working to hook up generators to sites that have run flat,” Ms Cliffe said.
“We have teams on the ground across the region doing all they can to access affected sites when it’s safe to do so and bring services back online as quickly as possible.
“We urge everyone to stay safe during this difficult time and thank them for their patience.”
At 1pm on Monday, Telstra said 27 mobile sites, 1041 landline phone services and 1090 ADSL services were disrupted.
An Ergon spokeswoman said its substation was de-energised for public safety on Sunday night.
“Access is challenging, but we are hoping to fly crews in so they can assess the state of the electrical network, including underground assets,” the spokeswoman said.
“We need to understand if there’s any damage or repairs required before we can safely reconnect customers.”
FAST FLOWING WATER
Rapidly rising creeks and rivers caught some residents near Cardwell and surrounding townships off-guard, Kennedy resident Daryl Dickson said.
“Even old-timers felt worried because the river came up so fast,” Mr Dickson said.
“Because the power’s down we won’t be able to get fuel and generators aren’t going to last.
“It’s a little more worrying in some ways than after Cyclone Yasi and Larry and we don’t even have a name for it.”
Past cyclones ensured communities like Carruchan, Kennedy, Ellerbeck, Murray Upper and Cardwell were well prepared, Ms Dickson said.
But the speed with which Meunga Creek rose, to the north of Cardwell, had surprised nearby residents.
“The water came up at about five o’clock (on Monday morning) at a rate I don’t think we’ve ever seen and it was flowing in places we’d never witnessed before,” the long-time resident said.
“Our creeks were overflowing and we’ve never seen that, so the volume of water coming off the range was greater than we’ve seen.
“Cardwell is flooding and people are being moved out of their homes. The town has a group of people that come together and make sure that everyone is safe.
“You don’t expect to flood when you’re sitting right on the coastline.”
Ms Dickson said telecommunications were vital with vulnerable community members likely to be stranded for significant periods of time this week.
“I’ve got concern for the elderly who have a day’s worth of fuel for generators and may not have access to phone reception,” she said.
“We saw it in Larry and Yasi. So it’s important that the community keep in touch with those who are vulnerable.
“It’s a very traumatising time, especially for new residents who haven’t lived here for very long.”
‘CAN’T HOLD BANANAS FOREVER’
Cassowary Coast banana farmer Cameron Flegler said workers at his packing sheds at Tully Gorge and Euramo were anxiously waiting for roads to re-open.
“We can’t get to one farm and we can get the fruit out just yet,” he said.
“It’s just a holding pattern at the moment.
“When the Herbert River floods, that cuts all the roads out.
“It happens every year but every flood is different. This one came up in different parts and you can’t necessarily predict it.”
The challenge of delivering perishable goods to southern markets can lead growers to resort to desperate measures during the wet season, Mr Flegler said.
“I remember one year, I sent bananas by air and sea,” he said.
“We drove them up to Cairns because the southern and western roads were cut off.
“It’s not normal. It’s just one of those things you’ll never forget.
“We’ll hopefully be back to harvesting tomorrow. The shed workers will just have to wait until I can move produce. You can’t hold bananas forever.”
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