Qld weather: New warnings, detail of woman’s death amid 1000mm+ North Queensland deluge
Police have issued new warnings to Townsville residents amid the North Queensland flooding chaos. It comes as details have emerged about the death of a woman after the SES boat she was in crashed.
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Police have issued new warnings to Townsville residents amid the North Queensland flooding chaos.
It comes as details have emerged about the death of a woman after the SES boat she was in crashed Sunday morning, and part of a bridge was swept away by floodwaters.
Police on Sunday night confirmed the 63-year-old woman was a passenger on a State Emergency Service (SES) vessel which was assisting members of the public through flood waters at Rutledge Street when it struck a tree and flipped.
The vessel was carrying six people, including SES volunteers and members of the public.
A nearby member of the public was able to immediately assist five people safely into his vessel. None sustained serious injury.
A short time later the sixth passenger from the vessel, the 63-year-old woman, was found deceased nearby.
Police will prepare a report for the Coroner.
It comes as police on Sunday night relayed an emergency flood warning for the Townsville suburb of Bluewater.
The warnings that it was not safe to return, as dangerous flooding was still happening, and residents should not return until told it’s safe.
It comes after concerns were raised over the number of people refusing to listen to evacuation advice as more Townsville residents are urged to flee.
Some suburbs could see history-breaking flooding after more than a metre of rain inundated homes, with the Insurance Council of Australia declaring a significant event for impacted regions.
Townsville Police Detective Superintendent Graeme Paine said emergency crews were concerned with the number of people in the black zone refusing to listen to evacuation advice.
“Our messaging is that if you’re in the black zone, you need to leave,” he said Sunday afternoon.
“The modelling has predicted certain impacts; what we’re doing is in line with that.”
Det Supt Paine said Sunday afternoon was the second time police officers and soldiers had doorknocked residents in the black zone to urge them to leave before further anticipated river rises overnight.
“From our perspective, that reflects the level of danger and the level of threat that we see in that,” he said.
He said having to rescue residents in zones who were warned to leave exposed emergency service members to serious danger.
“The consequences of decisions made at this point are critical and I encourage everyone to err on the side of caution because you do not know if something unexpected is going to happen, even when you’re in the house and you don’t feel you’re threatened by the flood waters.”
Several homes have been inundated with water in the Townsville suburb of Bluewater, as water levels rise across the region.
An emergency alert was issued for Bluewater as of 2.40pm on Sunday, urging residents to leave immediately.
The Townsville Local Disaster Management Group has warned of dangerous flooding and telling residents to leave immediately if safe to do so or move to higher ground.
Earlier, Townsville residents in several “black zones” - Idalia, Oonoonba, Rosslea, Hermit Park, Cluden and Railway Estate - were ordered to leave their homes by midday on Sunday as the Ross River levels rose drastically.
Meanwhile, raging flood waters have caused major damage to a bridge on the Bruce Highway north of Townsville.
Part of the Ollera Creek Bridge in Mutarnee was swept away, with only guard rails left standing.
All motorists weare urged to find an alternative route if travelling between Ingham and Townsville.
It comes as aerial footage from the Queensland Ambulance Service shows the devastating extent of flooding in Ingham.
Premier David Crisafulli earlier confirmed the fatality in Ingham.
“There has been the loss of life in flood waters in Ingham, and that’s a really tight-knit community, and our thoughts and prayers are with family,” he said.
A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said the woman was found deceased just before 9.20am.
Mr Crisafulli earlier warned things could get worse with more rain to come, with severe weather warnings still in place and huge rain totals throughout Sunday.
Nearly 300mm fell in five hours in some areas on Sunday, with the Bureau warning there could be more pockets of intense rainfall.
A very dangerous thunderstorm cell sitting over the areas of Paluma and Rollingstone was bringing significant rainfall totals to the already drenched region.
According to the Bureau, 180mm fell in just three hours in Paluma, bringing the total since 9am Sunday to 280mm.
Since 9am on Sunday, areas north of Townsville had received the brunt of the heavy rain, with 210mm falling in Rollingstone, 232mm in Paradise Lagoon, 173mm in Paluma Dam, 163mm in Upper Blackwater and 143mm in Bluewater.
Speaking to ABC Radio Townsville, Senior Meteorologist Jonathan How said areas north of Bluewater had seen upwards of 150mm of rain, with 69mm falling in South Townsville and 65mm at Townsville Airport.
While the concern has shifted slightly north along the coast, Mr How said there was still a possibility for heavy rainfall in areas where there have been breaks, warning the situation is constantly changing.
He added rain would likely continue for the next 18 hours and likely would not ease broadly until Monday afternoon.
The region had been smashed with rain overnight, with the Bureau of Meteorology confirming localised 48-hour accumulations of more than 1000mm had been observed between Townsville and Ingham.
Mr Crisafulli warned things could get worse with more rain to come.
“Listen to the advice, please don’t discount, this, this is a serious event, we’re asking people to heed the advice.
“We’ve seen what flood waters look like. There’s debris in the waters - we’re not speculating on this.
“They are dangerous operations that our emergency services and our emergency volunteers are facing.”
Mr Crisafulli said the number of warnings indicated the seriousness of the situation.
“It shows you that this is a really, really big flooding event,” he said.
Speaking of the female who died in Ingham, she was not an SES member, Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy said earlier on Sunday.
“Sadly, it highlights the dangers and the risks of these events,” he said.
“I really can’t go into much further detail in relation this matter, as it still unfolding as we speak, but I can say it will be fully investigated.
“I just want to ensure and make sure that all support will be provided to our emergency services and the Ingham community.
“We’ve seen what flood waters look like. There’s debris in the waters - we’re not speculating on this.
“They are dangerous operations that our emergency services and our emergency volunteers are facing.”
Deputy Leader for the Katter’s Australian Party and member for Hinchinbrook Nick Dametto said the local community would be reeling after the woman’s death.
“As soon as you hear of a tragedy happening during an emergency or disaster situation, your heart sinks and it goes out to the family, friends and those involved during the incident,” Mr Dametto said.
“Our deepest condolences and prayers are with every one of them right now. It’s a timely reminder that these events should be taken very seriously, and these sorts of situations can unfold very quickly.
He went on to say he had not seen this amount of rainfall in such a short amount of time in more than 30 years.
“We’re talking flood levels that may exceed some of the greatest floods that we’ve ever seen.
“The benchmark has always been the 1967 flood in Ingham where we saw record flood levels across the district, but seeing that the pumping station heights are going to exceed 15 metres along the Herbert, to me, says this could be one of the biggest floods ever,” he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also expressed his sadness at the death.
“My thoughts are with the family and the entire community at this awful time,” Mr Albanese said.
“The full support of the Queensland and Federal Governments is being deployed to assist with these floods.
“I have spoken with Premier Crisafulli and reiterated we will supply whatever resources are required to deal with this event.”
The death came as Townsville residents evacuated their homes as they face possible “life-threatening” flooding up to the second storey of buildings, with thousands ordered to leave by midday or risk their lives.
The Insurance Council of Australia on Sunday afternoon declared a significant event for regions in North Queensland impacted by the floods.
According to the ICA, this means their preliminary catastrophe processes have been activated in order to assess the insurance impact of the flood event.
They have said this event could be escalated to an “insurance catastrophe”.
An evacuation centre was set up in at the Cyclone Shelter, Ingham, as well as Heatley Secondary College and the Townsville Sports Precinct, North Ward, in Townsville.
“Practically, 700 millimetres has fallen in the last 22 hours, and around the Townsville area, we’ve seen another 150 to 250mm fall on top of the 300mm plus we saw yesterday,” Senior Meteorologist Dean Narramore said.
“So Townsville is approaching 48 hour totals in excess of 500mm, and unfortunately there’s a lot more to come.”
Residents in the suburbs of Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea were told to be out of their property by midday.
Flooding to second-storey floors is possible and single-storey buildings could be fully flooded.
“Water in the Ross River is rising fast and there will be dangerous and life-threatening flooding. Your life may be at risk,” the warning said.
“Prepare now and leave as soon as you can. Do not wait for further advice or emergency services to come to your door.”
Railway Estate resident Toni Wright evacuated her home on Sunday morning with her dog, Louis.
Flood waters had already started to inundate Ms Wright’s yard on Ninth Ave as she left.
“We were here in 2019 and got out when water was up to our waist, so we wanted to get out early this time,” Mr Wright said.
Oonoonba dad Robin Kerr was also preparing to evacuate his home with his young kids, Hazel and Quinn.
The family were hurrying to sandbag their home on Sunday morning before staying with family in Kirwan.
Mr Chelepy called for people who received a knock on the door to leave to heed advice.
“Can I appeal to you that if you are being asked to leave your residence in Townsville, please do so because it is really dangerous for you, your family and the emergency services,” he said.
It’s understood many of the 3100 residents doorknocked chose to stay in their homes and wait out the weather – almost six years to the day of the catastrophic 2019 Townsville floods.
Swift water rescue teams evacuated a group of residents stuck on the roof of a property on Gregory St, Cardwell due to rising flood waters.
The group was safely relocated.
One man was also taken to hospital early this morning after he was found clinging to a fence in flood waters on Robertson St, Ingham.
A spokesperson from the Queensland Fire Department confirmed there were 16 swiftwater rescues in the past 24 hours in North Queensland.
More than 90 schools have announced they will be closed on Monday, however this number is expected to rise as the day goes on.
Mr Crisafulli said while there would be a “long and difficult recovery and rebuild”, today was about people staying safe.
“They’ve done a mighty job and will continue to,” he said.
The substation at Ingham will soon go offline “for some time” - making recovery very difficult, the Premier said Sunday morning.
An emergency alert was earlier issued for Magnetic Island off Townsville after their water supply was cut off but was restored by 4.40pm.
The Townsville Local Disaster Management Group warned there had been a disruption to the island’s power and water supply.
Residents had been urged to conserve their water for emergency use only - drinking and toilets.
Mr Crisafulli noted the Bruce Highway remained cut at multiple locations which would likely slow restocking supplies.
Mr Crisafulli urged people not evacuating in the region to stay off the roads.
Townsville Airport will close from 12.30pm on Sunday due to significant rainfall, a spokesperson has confirmed. Airlines will be cancelling and rescheduling services as necessary.
A warning for damaging wind gusts of up to 90km/h is also in place for offshore islands including Palm Island, Magnetic Island, Hinchinbrook Island, as well as for the coastal communities.
“So that’s going to be strong enough to bring down trees, particularly with all this heavy rainfall moistening soils, making the trees fall much easier,” Mr Narramore said.
“Rain is continuing to fall across much of that warning area between Tully and Ayr, with the heaviest falls concentrated between and around Lucinda down to around Townsville, particularly around the Paluma Dam, Rollingstone, Bluewater and Townsville itself.”
At 7.25am an emergency flood warning was also issued for Cardwell.
“Flooding is occurring in low lying areas and may spread. Residents in low lying areas should collect their evacuation kit and move to a safe place on higher ground. This situation may pose a threat to life and property,” the warning the said.
The Far North Region SES is transporting 100,000 sandbags to Townsville by truck, which are set to arrive Sunday morning to help protect homes and businesses.
SES have responded to 296 call-outs across both North and Far North Queensland in the past 24 hours.
Among the chaos thieves stole an Ergon Energy worker’s car while a crew was responding to a fallen tree on a house in Townsville.
About 2am Sunday, crews were called to Bayswater Rd at Currajong where a large tree had fallen down and partially landed on a home.
The Ergon Energy crew was called to assist with power outages when their car was brazenly stolen by thieves.
Police are investigating.
Residents are being urged to spare the toilet flushes as its sewerage system hit capacity due to the heavy rainfall.
The council has told residents to delay washing their clothes, to take shorter showers and ‘only flush your toilet when necessary’.
Already residents have reported raw sewage overflows from drains outside their homes.
Mr Narramore said the heavy and intense rainfall will likely continue into the night, but could start easing up or breaking into light to moderate rainfall on Monday.
However, widespread showers and thunderstorms are expected to linger on Monday and Tuesday.
“The persistent non-stop rainfall may ease, but we’re still likely to see widespread rain and storm activity on Monday and Tuesday, not only in the flood affected areas, but right across Northern Queensland,” he said.
■ Full list of NQ road closures
Extra State Emergency Services, QPS, and Queensland Fire Department officers have been deployed from Brisbane to assist with the emergency, which has already seen eight swift water rescues in the region up until Saturday afternoon.
In Halifax, 130km north of Townsville, the Halifax Hotel was inundated with water but said it would continue to operate to serve the community and to offer “support to our SES, QFS, and QPS”.
Premier David Crisafulli sent a powerful message on Saturday to the people impacted by wild weather, including to his father Tony in his hometown of Ingham – which has also been lashed by rain.
“They’re going OK,” he said. “And it doesn’t matter whether you’ve been through one wet season or many, it’s important that you listen to advice, and that goes for you, Dad.”
Mr Crisafulli said those who were being asked to leave by emergency services should heed those warnings.
“If you are in that area, we’re asking you to leave by midday, and the preparation has all been done yesterday, and we’re asking you to leave by midday,” Mr Crasafulli said on Sunrise this morning.
“Now, separately to that, if you’re in a low lying area and you believe that you’re at risk of flooding, you should also do that now.
“Our advice is if you can go with family and friends, but if that’s not an option, there are evacuation centres that are open at both Heatley as well as at the Townsville Sports Reserve.”
It comes after Opposition leader Steven Miles slammed the Premier for being underprepared for the horrific weather event, saying he failed to convene the disaster management committee before the storm hit. But Mr Crisafulli rubbished the claims and said they were well-prepared.
“Firstly Queenslanders need to know we are well prepared … we were putting a lot of resources into preparing ahead of this season and I want Queenslanders to know that we have prepared better than ever before,” he said.
“The most important thing is we get through this without a loss of life.”
A major flood warning has been issued for the Ross and Bohle Rivers from about midday on Sunday, as controlled releases continue at Ross River Dam.
Townsville Local Disaster Management Group chairman Andrew Robinson said rainfall was higher than expected, but the weather event was not on the same scale as the 2019 monsoonal trough.
“Here we are experiencing an unusual weather pattern, the dam levels may rise to the levels of 2019 – according to our worst case scenarios – but as with all disaster planning you plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Mr Robinson said.
District Disaster Coordinator Superintendent Graeme Paine urged those who have been advised to leave their properties to take it seriously.
“We’re moving into an area where there is a life-threatening risk around flooding and flash flooding,” Supt Paine said.
“Make no mistake – this is a very serious situation.”
Railway Estate resident Jordan Upton wasn’t fazed by the rain on Saturday, walking home through his flooded street with a carton of Victoria Bitter under his arm. He said their street experienced tidal flooding often.
“It was worse yesterday, I couldn’t get through the street,” Mr Upton said.
Dozens of roads around the region had been closed, including the Bruce Hwy south of the city. Mr Crisafulli slammed the state of the highway, saying weather events like the one currently hitting North Queensland show how terrible the road is.
“The Bruce Hwy is a terrible road and I’ve described it as a goat track for a long time and events like this expose how bad it is and that’s why we’ve put in place for the first time in a generational plan,” he said.
Emergency grants up to $180 per person, to a maximum of $900 for a family of five or more are available to eligible Queenslanders affected by these floods.
This assistance will also help local government clean up and restore assets as soon as possible.
Originally published as Qld weather: New warnings, detail of woman’s death amid 1000mm+ North Queensland deluge
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