Cyclone brings floods and crocodiles in Australia’s northeast

SYDNEY — Floods caused by heavy rain in the wake of former tropical cyclone Jasper cut off several towns popular with tourists in Australia’s northeast along the Great Barrier Reef on Monday, with a crocodile being captured from a storm drain. 

Jasper dumped the equivalent of months of rain in the far north of Queensland state at the weekend, forcing people to flee homes and crowd on rooftops to escape fast-rising rivers.

“The problem is the rain won’t stop. Until it eases up, we can’t get aerial support into remote places,” the state’s premier, Steven Miles, told ABC Television.

“We see a lot of natural disasters and this is just about the worst I can remember.”

Jasper was downgraded to a tropical low after leaving a trail of destruction across the state last week.

In Ingham, a town of about 5,000 inundated by floods, conservation officials captured a 2.8m long crocodile in a storm drain at a petrol station, media clips showed. But crocodile sightings in north Queensland are more common in rivers, lagoons and swamps in rural areas.

Cairns, the gateway town to the Great Barrier Reef and home to more than 150,000 people, had about 600mm of rain in 40 hours up to  early Monday. That is more than triple the December mean of 182mm.

All flights from Cairns airport were cancelled or postponed, with social media images showing planes partially submerged on the tarmac.

Water pumps have been draining water since Sunday, but “it’s still not keeping up with the volume of water that came in”, Richard Barker, the airport's CEO, told Sky News.

Dan, living just north of Cairns airport, who gave only one name, told ABC Radio he had to shelter on his kitchen bench for about four hours before being taken to a house where 30 people had gathered on the roof awaiting rescue boats.

“Kids, elderly people, dogs and cats on this poor bloke’s roof who just had brand new solar panels installed ... it was a harrowing journey navigating the fast-flowing water and dodging debris,” he said.

EL NINO INFLUENCE

Weather officials forecast more rain, with Jasper expected to persist through Monday. Some regions expected 300mm of rain within six hours. Major flood warnings have been broadcast. Rivers are expected to break records dating to 1977.

More than 14,000 properties regionwide have lost electricity supply.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said troops were on standby to launch rescue and relief efforts.

Australia is now experiencing an El Nino weather phenomenon, which can provoke extremes ranging from wildfires to tropical cyclones and prolonged droughts.

As the northeast battles floods, Australia’s southeast, in contrast, is on bushfire alert with temperatures expected to top 40°C on Tuesday in some Sydney suburbs. 

Reuters