Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
National
Fraser Barton, Robyn Wuth and Michael Ramsey

Nation's waterlogged north faces renewed flood threat

Northern Australia is awash with intense rainfall threatening Queensland's Gulf Country communities with more flash flooding.

Doomagee, Burketown, Normanton and other towns in the region have endured near-constant rain since mid-December.

Meteorologists are warning locally intense rainfall up to 150mm in six hours could hit the northwest, which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding, from Thursday.

People living in Winton, Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Camooweal, Dajarra, Duchess, Mckinlay and Lawn Hill could be affected.

The Bureau of Meteorology says 24-hour rain totals of 250mm are possible "once again" following record falls on Wednesday.

"Already saturated catchments are likely to respond quickly to any heavy rainfall and exacerbate the flash flooding risk, while leading to further isolation of communities and disruption to local road networks," the BoM said in an alert.

Burketown recorded its highest daily rainfall total in eight years when 173mm fell on Wednesday and a record 314mm drenched Century Mine near Lawn Hill.

Domagee resident Kylie Caulton says it feels as though the rain will never end.

"The normal wet season should have been finished by now. It's usually about three months but this year, the rain just won't stop," she told AAP.

"We have not seen the sun in months. Supplies are running low. The shop usually gets trucks through every week, but now we are getting two deliveries by plane.

Residents in saturated North Queensland are bracing for more heavy rain and flash flooding. (PR HANDOUT IMAGE PHOTO) (AAP)

"There are restrictions. We're only allowed to get two bottles of milk at a time per person and that doesn't even last the week. Once we run out, we have to do without."

Trucks of essential supplies have come from as far as Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns to service communities still accessible by road.

Community Enterprise Queensland, a non-profit community store operator, has spent more than $735,00 to charter 27 flights to bring 85,000kg of essential products into Kowanyama, Pormpuraaw, and Doomadgee this wet season.

"In a normal wet season year, CEQ would expect Doomadgee to be cut off by road for around six days, however this year it is nine weeks and counting," CEQ chief executive Michael Dykes said.

In Western Australia, the Australian Defence Force will help deliver essential supplies to people in Kununurra, which is isolated because of heavy flooding.

Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare since the Victoria Highway, the town's major road link to the NT, was cut last week.

Kununurra's main road link to the rest of WA - the Great Northern Highway - has been closed by floodwaters since January.

WA Premier Mark McGowan said an air force aircraft carrying perishable goods would arrive in Kununurra on Thursday followed by another on Friday.

A barge carrying fresh food would also arrive from Darwin at the weekend.

"We've worked as hard as we can to get food in there as quickly as we can and we expect the situation will alleviate over the coming days," Mr McGowan said on Wednesday.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.