Floods caused by heavy rains after Tropical Cyclone Jasper isolated tourist towns in north-eastern Australia on Monday, the 18th of December. The storm brought heavy rains to Queensland, forcing residents to evacuate and seek shelter on rooftops, and a crocodile was captured from a drain due to flooding, reports Reuters.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles said the persistent rainfall made it difficult to provide aerial assistance to people in remote areas affected by the floods. Miles told ABC Television that
the disaster was one of the worst he could remember.
The storm was downgraded to tropical low after Jasper hit the country last week.
In Ingham, a town of about 5000 affected by flooding, officials caught a 2.8 metre-long crocodile near a petrol station. Crocodiles are commonly seen in rivers, lagoons, and swamps in rural areas of northern Queensland.
MEANWHILE, IN AUSTRALIA: A crocodile was spotted lurking in a flooded creek.
Emergency and wildlife personnel safely caught and removed the 9-foot animal, before transporting it to a holding facility until the floods recede. https://t.co/EikFC2Fvbt pic.twitter.com/jqaR3keKcg
— ABC News (@ABC) December 18, 2023
In Cairns, the main city with access to the Great Barrier Reef, rainfall early on Monday reached about 600 mm in 40 hours – more than triple the average December rainfall.
All flights were cancelled or postponed from the airport and images posted on social media showed planes on the runway partially submerged in water. The airport’s chief director told Sky News that water had been drained since Sunday, but the water pump was not coping with the heavy rainfall.
Australia’s #Cairns Airport closed due to flooding.
A Category 2 tropical #cyclone passed close by #WujalWujal on Wednesday.#Airport #Australia #Flood #Cairnsflood pic.twitter.com/A5i0VO0qwS
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) December 18, 2023
Residents north of Cairns airport, including a man named Dan, said the heavy rainfall caused him to shelter on a kitchen table for about four hours before they were rescued along with other people who had taken shelter on the roofs of their houses waiting for rescue boats.
Australia is currently experiencing an El Nino weather phenomenon, which can cause extreme events ranging from forest fires to tropical cyclones and prolonged droughts.
While the north-east is battling floods, the south-east of Australia, on the other hand, is on bushfire alert, with temperatures expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius in some Sydney suburbs on Tuesday, reports Reuters.
Also read: Meteorologists predict intensive precipitation and strong wind in Latvia this week
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