More evacuations expected in flood-hit regions
Laine Clark |
More people are set to be evacuated from Australia’s flood-hit regions as another cyclone threat looms.
Far north Queensland is bracing for a second natural disaster in barely a month while flooding has forced people to flee their homes in the Northern Territory.
Updated forecasts on Saturday maintained expectations of intense rain leading to flash flooding, linked to a monsoon trough across the southern Carpentaria.
Heavy rainfall of up to 180mm in six hours is possible as the result of a slow moving tropical low close to Elliott in central NT.
“Locally, intense rainfall which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is also possible with thunderstorms in western and northern parts of the Barkly district, including Tennant Creek, and in the far eastern Gregory district,” the Bureau of Meteorology reported on Saturday.
There is a general flood warning for the NT’s Victoria River catchment after almost 100 people were evacuated, with more to come.
“We’ve seen significant river rises throughout these areas that have in some places cut off roads and access routes,” the bureau’s Miriam Bradbury said.
“A number of communities have been evacuated or will be evacuated over the coming days as rain continues to fall.”
Motorists have been stranded, roads cut and people evacuated in the NT with about 40 from Pigeon Hole, a Bilinara Aboriginal Land Trust settlement, relocated while another 50 at nearby Daguragu left for Kalkarindji.
Pigeon Hole could be flooded for up to a week.
“Toward Saturday night we will see some particularly heavy rainfall starting to develop to the south of Katherine,” Ms Bradbury said.
“That heavy rainfall over the Victoria River catchment is set to cause further significant river rises over the coming days.”
The low is expected to push toward the Western Australia border, bringing wind and rain to northern parts of the Kimberley.
There are flood watches for large parts of the NT including the Top End along with areas in far north Queensland.
In positive news, the Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas reopened to traffic on Saturday following damage caused by December’s ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.
Scores of landslips damaged the highway and multiple culverts were blocked or needed repair, with crews removing large amounts of mud and debris.
Some Queensland Rail services remain impacted, Queensland’s acting Transport Minister Scott Stewart said.
“Significant progress has been made onsite with 39 of the 61 damaged sites now cleared to allow access for work trains to begin removing soil from the area,” he said.
The same parts of Far North Queensland are facing more heavy rain as residents prepare for Cyclone Kirrily, set to form in the Coral Sea by Sunday.
Kirrily is a risk of tracking back and hitting the Queensland coast mid-next week, possibly as a category 3 cyclone that produces winds of up to 165km/h.
Forecast models have the area from Townsville to Rockhampton in the firing line.
AAP
