Cairns, Port Douglas flooding: Aussie Christmas flight chaos as largest flood EVER strikes Far North Queensland with the airport closing with city undewater – as residents suffer drinking water crisis and 600mm rain bomb strikes

• Cairns Airport remains closed with more rain on the way
• Expected to surge past 1977 record on Monday
• Drinking supply running out, locals urged to conserve water
• READ MORE: Cairns Airport underwater after Cyclone Jasper batters Qld

Cairns has been smashed by flood levels not seen in 45 years with the city’s airport underwater, sparking Christmas travel chaos for thousands of Aussies as an entire remote community prepares to evacuate.

More than 600mm of rain has drenched far north Queensland in the past 40 hours, with further downfalls of 300mm expected on Monday in the aftermath of ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper.  

The popular holiday hotspot is now ‘an island’ with major roads cut off and split in half by floodwaters.

At least 14,000 residents are without electricity and haven’t been given a timeframe as to when power will be restored.

A person was found dead at Holloways Beach, north of Cairns, however police believe they suffered a medical episode unrelated to the flooding. 

Hundreds of residents and tourists in Cairns have been forced to leave their homes with hotels converted into evacuation centres. 

The city’s deluged airport has been closed for a second day after 307mm of rain was recorded there in the last 24 hours. It is unlikely to reopen before Tuesday at the earliest.

Nine people, including a young child were trapped on a hospital roof in the remote Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal on Monday morning with emergency services scrambling to rescue them.

The entire community of 286 residents were ordered by authorities to evacuate on Monday morning and relocate to Cooktown 80km away.

Meanwhile, there are real fears that the Cairns region could run out of drinking water within hours with residents urged to conserve water whenever possible. 

Cairns Airport has received 307mm in the last 24 hours. Pictured are planes on the tarmac submerged in floodwaters

Cairns Airport was forced to close because of severe flooding, with extraordinary images showing multiple aircraft submerged in a rising torrent on the runway

The Wajul Wujal indigenous community in far north Queensland has been cut off. Pictured are stranded residents at the local hospital which was inundated with floodwaters

READ MORE: Cyclone Jasper could redevelop within days

Heavy, intense rainfall with dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding, is forecast north of Cairns, along with six-hourly rainfall totals up to 300 mm.

The towns of Port Douglas, Wujal Wujal, Daintree Village and Cooktown are among those in the firing line, sparking widespread evacuation orders.

‘It’s just an incredible amount of rain, continuously,’ Queensland Premier Steven Miles told reporters on Monday.

‘(Residents) say they’ve never seen anything like it. For someone from Far North Queensland to say that, that’s really saying something.

‘To Queenslanders in Far North Queensland, we know you’ve had a tough night.

‘I want you to know that every single resource available is being allocated to keeping you safe.

‘We deployed literally every boat we could get our hands on in Cairns to evacuate those who couldn’t safely evacuate themselves, and more help is on the way.’

Cairns mayor Terry James has warned that the region could run out of water if infrastructure blockages are not cleared and residents do not conserve water.

‘We’ve currently got about 30 hours left so we’re urging people to top up on water while they can,’ he said.

‘If we can’t unblock it, we will run out of water in the reservoirs by 10am (Monday),’ he said on Sunday night.

‘We’re stressing to people to use water for emergency purposes only – as drinking water, to save or preserve life.’

Major roads including the Bruce and Palmerston highways have been cut off while several bridges were damaged beyond use. 

One local shared stunning footage of the massive rainfall gushing down Din Din waterfalls at Kuranda.

‘Hard to capture the volume of water on video but walking in I could feel the ground shaking amidst a deafening roar,’ he tweeted.

‘An unprecedented six foot of rain fell on the catchment over the past few days.’

Many displaced residents have already lost everything in the floods with dozens of online fundraisers set up. 

The severe flooding has thrown Christmas plans into disarray for not only locals heading off on holidays but also travellers travelling north for the festive season.

The airport won’t reopen on Monday with more heavy rain forecast.

The airport has warned the clean-up could ‘take some time.’ 

Footage and photos shared to social media shows several planes partially submerged on the tarmac. 

The Palmerston Highway in far north Queensland has been split in half following heavy rain and flooding from ex-tropical cyclone Jasper

Major roads in and out of far north Queensland have been closed. Pictured is Captain Cook Highway covered in debris

‘Significant debris’ on the runway must be removed and cleaned before resuming operations,’ an airport statement read.

‘We will then be in a position to assess our runway infrastructure, to determine its serviceability. 

‘This will take some time. As such, we can confirm that operations will not recommence at Cairns Airport today.

‘Safety is our highest priority. Our team and the wider Cairns Airport community are working tirelessly to enable operations as quickly as possible.’

The domestic and international terminals have not been adversely impacted.

‘Cairns is like an island,’ Tropical Far North Queensland Tourism chief executive Mark Olsen told the Today show.

‘Yesterday was definitely one for the history books, with record rainfall up in the catchment.

‘Our focus at the moment is keeping the community safe – from Cairns, we can’t travel north to our friends in the Douglas Shire, our Northern Beaches are cut off, we’re cut off on the highway to the south and both tracks to the tablelands are also cut off at the moment.’ 

Mr Olsen has pleaded called for more assistance from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Queensland Premier. 

‘We really need to get out and assess the situation and it will take us a couple of days to really understand it, so people who have bookings for Christmas and the new year, just give us a couple of days to understand where we’re at,’ he said.

Emergency services performed more than 250 assisted rescues on Sunday night alone.

Nine health workers and patients, including a seven-year-old child were trapped on roof of the hospital in the Cape York Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal surrounded by crocodile infested floodwaters. They have since been safely rescued.

Other locals sought refuge on top of cars and on the roofs of their homes. 

‘That group of people who were trapped on the roof of the hospital at Wujal Wujal have been able to safely move to another location, but it now appears likely that we will need to evacuate the entire town of Wujal Wujal,’ Premier Miles said.

‘Agencies are working across levels of government to work out how to do that, to safely get the community of Wujal Wujal to Cooktown, to the PCYC there.’

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll added: ‘The greatest challenge so far for everyone has been access into some of these areas, and it will continue to challenge us.’

The evacuation orders come after the Wujal Wujal Council issued an urgent community plea on Sunday after a crocodile was spotted at the bridge crossing after the Bloomfield River burst its banks.

These tourists managed to board one of the final flights out of Cairns on Sunday before the airport closed mid-afternoon

Cairns Airport (pictured) remains closed on Monday, throwing travel plans into chaos

Horrified locals spotted a crocodile in a flooded drain in the town centre of Ingham on Monday morning

SES personnel are working around the clock to rescue residents cut off by floodwaters

‘Parents, please keep your children away from the area,’ the message stated.

‘There are children swimming close by.’

At least seven more people remain stranded on roofs at Degarra and Bloomfield.

‘We are doing everything we can to get our emergency services in to support these people,’ SES Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy said. 

‘We have been in contact via phone and we know they’re safe, and being on the roof at the moment is the safest location for these people. The water through those areas is moving very rapidly, and for us to undertake rescues at this point in time would be highly unsafe.’

Around 250km further south, Ingham is also on flood watch as horrified locals spotted a large crocodile swimming in a swollen drain in the centre of town.

The ABC later reported that the 2.8 metre croc has since been captured and transported to a holding facility, where the reptile will remain until the rain subsides.

Australian Defence Force personnel are on standby to support the flood recovery effort in far north Queensland.

‘People have been devastated and of course it’s a very dangerous situation for many who are in unprecedented flood waters,’ Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the ABC’s AM on Monday. 

‘The forecast, tragically, is predicting more rain still.’

No deaths or serious injuries have been recorded so far, according to authorities.

The flood-stricken region is close to Commissioner Carroll’s heart.

‘I am a far northerner, I remember those floods in 1977, and have been through many disasters and cyclones in that part of the world,’ she said.

‘I must say, what we’ve seen over the last couple of days has been absolutely devastating. We have not seen the volume of water at least since that time.’

Queensland Premier Steven Miles provided an update on the flooding crisis on Monday just days after being sworn into the top job

Emergency services in far north Queensland have performed hundreds of rescues in recent days, including motorists stranded in floodwaters. Pictured is an abandoned car

State Emergency Service personnel have conducted hundreds of rescues in the last 24 hours

Source: Read Full Article