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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Luke Henriques-Gomes

Boats, helicopters and garbage trucks used in Queensland rescues – as it happened

Summary

Thanks for following today’s live coverage of the Townsville flood crisis.

  • The worst of conditions happened overnight after the Ross River dam’s floodgates were opened, sending 1,900 cubic metres of water gushing into the already inundated town.
  • We learned that authorities received more than 1,000 calls for help, while there were also 18 swift-water rescues.
  • About 16,000 homes were without power.
  • Officials faced some criticism for choosing not to impose a forced evacuation. They said they had provided sufficient warnings to residents, who had to take some personal responsibility for their welfare.
  • Today, authorities have been using boats, helicopters and, in some cases, garbage trucks, to rescue hundreds of Townsville residents.
  • The rain has eased in Townsville now, but a monsoon trough remains over the region, with more heavy rain expected.
  • At 5.30pm, the Bureau of Meteorology said there had been up to 268mm of rain over the past 24 hours in parts of Townsville. But since 9am, there had been only 10mm-20mm.
  • On Tuesday, between 55-70 mm of rain is forecast.

Updated

Crocs may be seen in 'unusual places', 'crossing roads', Queenslanders told

The Queensland environment minister, Leeanne Enoch, has issued a statement warning locals to beware of crocodiles in flood waters.

“Crocodiles prefer calmer waters and they may move around in search of a quiet place to wait for flood waters to recede,” Enoch said.

“Crocodiles may be seen crossing roads, and when flooding recedes, crocodiles can turn up in unusual places such as farm dams or waterholes where they have not been seen before.

“Similarly, snakes are very good swimmers and they too may turn up unexpectedly.”

Enoch said locals should not attempt to catch or remove a snake. “It’s best to leave snakes alone to move on of their own accord, or you can contact a local licensed snake removalist if you need assistance,” she said.

Updated

'Heaviest falls have passed': Conditions easing but more rain to come

Some more good news from the weather bureau. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Jess Gardener tells the ABC conditions in Townsville are improving.

“Things have eased over the Townsville area over the last few hours,” Gardener says. The area of Woolshed had only seen 2.6mm of rain over that period, and the bureau’s main focus has shifted to an area south of Townsville and around Mackay.

Gardener adds that “the heaviest falls have passed”, but notes there is still “decent” rainfall forecast for the next few days.

“With everything so saturated that will lead to some more flooding, so we’re not out of the worst of it yet,” she says.

Updated

Here’s a video report on the situation in Townsville.

This should convince people.

On ABC local radio, Townsville locals have been describing the scene from their homes.

Caller Mark, from Hermit Park, says that there is currently a river flowing through his street. He decided to stay in his home last night, with his wife, 15-year-old son and dog, because they had an emergency plan in place. “We’re at a fairly high point even though we’re sitting in a river at the moment,” Mark says.

The family is self-sufficient, with a generator providing electricity to their home and their elderly neighbours. But both their vehicles “went under”, while their freezer, washing machine and dryer were “lifted” away by the flood waters.

Updated

Good news for people trying to get in and out of Townsville.

Water levels at the Ross River dam have subsided slightly since 11am, when they were predicted to peak. While that’s good news, authorities have pointed out that there is another monsoon trough headed towards Townsville.

Updated

Queensland’s department of education says schools in the flood-affected areas of north Queensland will remain closed on Tuesday.

Updated

Two NRL players have been using a boat to help rescue flood victims. Flood-affected Townsville is the headquarters of the North Queensland Cowboys.

Antonio Winterstein’s wife, Brooke, posted a call out on Facebook offering to ferry people to the army barracks.

“We’ve got a lot of people here with cars and if you need we’re dropping people off at the army barracks,” Winterstein says in the video.

“So if you are in Idalia near Abbott St message us on here. The boys are all doing trips over in the boats to come and get you. One of the families that just came over said there’s a house with 21 people in there.”

Updated

Townsville mayor defends flood response

The Townsville mayor, Jenny Hill, has just appeared on Sky News. She has been defending the response to the floods crisis from authorities, amid some concern from residents who said they were not given enough warning.

In fact, Hill says that local officials had knocked on doors two days prior to last night, and sent a number of emergency alerts. “I’d argue that we did give the community quite a bit of warning,” she says.

Hill notes that the city has received “more than years’ worth of rain in seven days”.

“It surpasses anything we have on record,” she says.

For example, the last time Townsville flooded, the water levels over the Aplins Weir hit 1.77m. This time, it has reached as high as 4m. “The community ... accepts this is an extraordinary event,” Hill says.

Updated

The Insurance Council is saying that on the basis of claims already lodged the cost will be $20m. But that is a very early estimate and does not include any itemisation by policyholders. It’s just based on the number of people who have contacted their insurers so far.

For a better idea of how much it will cost, you have to look back at previous disasters. For example, the Hobart floods in May last year cost $99m when the city was hit by flash flooding. The Townsville crisis is on a much greater scale so a more comparable event might be the 1974 Brisbane flood which, in 2017 dollar terms, cost $3.2bn, according to the Insurance Council.

Hobart after flooding and storms
Hobart after flooding and storms. Photograph: Instagram/ Danica

Updated

Another interesting point from my colleague Lisa Cox’s chat with Terry Hughes. Hughes also says the floods are another example of the climate extremes Australia has experienced this summer, alongside record-breaking heatwaves and bushfires.

The premier [Annastacia Palaszczuk] for the second time in three months, has been using the word unprecedented. First the unprecedented fires, now it’s unprecedented floods. Scott Morrison has given a press conference offering sympathies to people in Tasmania and Townsville, but he didn’t make any links to climate change.

Updated

The coral reef scientist Prof Terry Hughes says the flooding will send pulses of sediment from the river systems out into the reef.

“Almost every river in tropical Queensland is flooding,” he says. “You only have to look out the window in Townsville. The sea is coffee brown.”

Hughes says there will be particular concerns for the near-shore reefs around the central part of the Great Barrier Reef, which was heavily impacted by coral bleaching in 2017 and where corals are only starting to recover.

A school of fish in the Great Barrier Reef
A school of fish in the Great Barrier Reef.
 Photograph: Getty Images

“Juvenile corals and baby corals are particularly susceptible to being smothered,” he says.

Hughes says the last major flood also smothered seagrasses that species such as dugong feed on.

The one “silver lining” is that temperatures in the water are sitting at normal levels, making it unlikely bleaching will occur this year.

Updated

Fears sediment could impact the reef

Another concern to arise from the floods will be the sediment run-off into the Great Barrier Reef. Sediment can smother corals and encourage disease and freshwater can kill corals.

Jon Brodie is a professorial research fellow at the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Townsville.

He says there will be some threat to coastal seagrass and island fringing reefs from the fine sediment discharge and freshwater from the flooding rivers – especially in Cleveland Bay from the Ross River.

But the Burdekin River is not in major flood yet and the impacts on the reef are much more extensive when it does reach that point, such as in 2011.

Brodie says the present flooding posed the greatest risk to areas around Cleveland Bay “where there’s one of the most important seagrass nurseries in the whole Great Barrier Reef”.

“The reefs around Magnetic Island on Cleveland Bay used to be very lovely reefs, they will likely be affected as well,” he says.

Brodie also says rivers north of Mackay could affect reefs around the Whitsundays.

Updated

Just a reminder that if you have pictures or video of the floods that you are happy for the Guardian to publish, please contact our picture editor, Carly Earl (carly.earl@theguardian.com).

Of course, please observe warnings about entering flood waters and don’t take any personal risk to take a photo.

What we know so far

Queensland’s flood crisis. What we know:

  • Between 400 and 500 homes inundated in Townsville
  • Fears up to 2,000 homes may have been affected by water in some way
  • More than 1,100 residents evacuated overnight; about 1,000 are staying in refuge centres
  • Boats, choppers and council trucks are being used to get people out of flooded suburbs
  • More than 1,000 calls for help in the past 24 hours, most in Townsville
  • Monsoon trough producing intense rain is quite stationary but is gradually moving south
  • Rain has eased in Townsville but more heavy falls are expected later on Monday; conditions remain unpredictable
  • Severe weather warning current from Cardwell south to Mackay and inland to Cloncurry
  • Abnormally high tides and monsoonal squalls forecast for the Gulf of Carpentaria coast and the Torres Strait
  • Townsville airport reopening at 2pm
  • Schools in the region likely to remain closed on Tuesday

Updated

People in Townsville who have been evacuated – or are looking for loved ones – are being urged to sign up with the Red Cross.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, also touched on the floods at a press conference earlier today. It coincided with the premier’s media conference, so I’m just catching up now.

Morrison is in Tasmania, where he noted there were bushfires burning across the state. Here’s what he said:

As I’ve moved around the recovery centre here and spoken to people and down in the town, spoken to the chopper pilots, the firies and people from Parks, what I hear back is the sense of the resilience and community that always comes to the fore in times like this. I have to say, we’ll be saying exactly the same thing up in Townsville and surrounds at the moment. While Tasmania is gripped by fire, presently, in Townsville, it’s floods. Just as all Australians’ hearts have gone out to people here in Tasmania, the same is very much with the people of Townsville and the surrounding districts up there in the floods at the moment where they’re facing, as we speak, the biggest of challenges.

Summary

Some more from my colleague Lisa Cox on Woolworths’ food deliveries.

Fairfield, Hermit Park, Castletown and Nathan Plaza Woolworths supermarkets are closed. The eight remaining stores in Townsville are open and trading.

In Cairns all stores are open and trading, in Ingham stores are receiving stock from Townsville and in Ayr stores are receiving supplies from road in Brisbane.

A flooded street in Townsville
A flooded street in Townsville. Photograph: Queensland Police

Anandji said two charter planes carrying 30 tonnes of fresh food and essential items would arrive in Cairns on Tuesday, with more to follow in the days ahead.

“We’ll continue to do all we can to get stock into far north Queensland while the roads are cut, so our customers can shop with the confidence we’ll have stock as and when they need it,” she said.

Updated

Woolworths has given a statement on its food deliveries for Townsville and Cairns.

Tina Anandji, Woolworths’ northern Queensland operations manager, said road access into Townsville had been challenging and supplies would be brought in by a barge.

It is not expected to arrive until Thursday.

“We’ve secured a barge to deliver 300 tonnes of fresh food, nappies, baby formula and other essential items. The barge will be dispatched from Mackay and is expected to arrive in Townsville on Thursday,” she said.

She said Woolworths was relying on 30 contingency containers in the meantime “carrying essential lines such as water, long-life milk, baby formula, beans, noodles and toilet paper, which we’re drawing on to increase the stock in our stores”.

“We know it’s a stressful time for many, and thank our customers for their patience as our team works to fill shelves and serve local shoppers,” she said.

Updated

Bill Shorten has just made some fairly strong statements linking extreme weather – the flooding in Townsville and fires in Tasmania – to climate change.

The Labor leader says from Huonville in Tasmania that “even Australia’s most extreme climate deniers” would have to accept that extreme weather events are becoming more common and that “climate change is having some effect”.

“It is legitimate to talk about climate change. If we can’t talk about climate change now, with the range of weather events that we’ve got, when will we ever be able to talk about climate change?”

Updated

Authorities have now issued an emergency alert for Charters Towers, south-west of Townsville.

There is a major flood alert for the Burdekin River. The Macrossan Bridge, about 15km from Charters Towers, is expected to be closed for several days.

Updated

Flood leads to food shortages in north Queensland

Supermarkets, where possible, are chartering planes to get food and supplies to Townsville and Cairns.

The Queensland state general manager of Coles, Jenny Farrell, says: “Coles has chartered a plane to deliver fresh produce, groceries and flour to flood-affected Townsville and Cairns customers.

“The plane will land in Cairns this afternoon and half the load will be trucked to Townsville on recently reopened roads.”

The plane is due to land in Cairns at 1pm.

Farrell says Coles is also investigating alternative delivery routes from Adelaide and Darwin to try to truck in food to other flood-affected areas in far north Queensland.

“Coles would like to thank our local suppliers, who have helped keep fresh milk, eggs and produce in stores wherever possible,” she said.

Updated

Police are warning that people from Cardwell, north of Townsville, to Mackay should prepare for possible significant flash flooding.

“We are still in response phase,” the police deputy commissioner and state disaster coordinator, Bob Gee, said.

“It’s really critical that we don’t have a false sense of security. People need to stay away.”

Updated

Annastacia Palaszczuk says the likely cost of the floods will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Explaining the decision to open the floodgates to the Ross River dam, she says: “We cannot control the weather … (the monsoon) it dumped a huge amount of water, the water needed to be released.”

Palaszczuk says authorities will soon turn their focus to the recovery, including financial assistance for impacted families.

“I know Queenslanders will come together and help people that are impacted,” she says. “We are going to be here standing with you … to ensure you get the assistance that is needed.”

A resident pushes a bicycle through flood waters in Hermit Park
A resident pushes a bicycle through flood waters in Hermit Park. Photograph: Andrew Rankin/AAP

Updated

Townsville mayor Jenny Hill insists Ross River dam is safe

The Townsville mayor, Jenny Hill, is reassuring the media that the Ross River dam is safe. There appear to be some concerns, locally, about this. Hill criticises what she calls “armchair critics” on Facebook who are raising fears about the dam.

“The dam has done its job,” Hill says. “The integrity of the dam is fine.”

Updated

The police deputy commissioner, Bob Gee, says one man is in custody over an alleged break and enter. Otherwise he assures residents that their properties are safe. On public safety, he says:

In Townsville we expect that, we hope if rain will go away, but even if it goes away, we will still be in response phase for at least a little while yet. It is really critical that we don’t have a false sense of security. People need to stay away.

Updated

'We're not out of this yet': Qld premier warns more heavy rainfall to come

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is addressing the media now, along with emergency services officials.

Palaszczuk congratulates emergency services officials for their efforts overnight. She says 1,100 people were relocated with the help of authorities. There were also 18 swift-water rescues.

But her key message is: “We’re not out of this yet.”

“There’s going to be heavy rainfall over the next couple of days,” she says. “There will also be damaging wind gusts and intense rainfall with significant flash flooding. So, once again, our message is if you don’t need to be out on the roads, please don’t.”

Updated

Here’s another look from the air, courtesy of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

Updated

Sue Oates, a hydrologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, has been speaking on ABC radio. Oates says that the Ross River dam hit the 43-metre mark last night before the floodgates were opened.

At this stage, major flooding is expected to continue throughout the day and into Tuesday before any “easing” in Townsville.

Complicating those predictions, Oates says, is the possibility of further rainfall. She says there is another band approaching, but it’s forecast to move through the area “fairly rapidly”. Currently it’s expected to produce only about an hour of rain, or about 30mm.

Updated

If you have pictures or video of the floods that you are happy for the Guardian to publish, please contact our picture editor, Carly Earl (carly.earl@theguardian.com).

But please observe warnings about entering flood waters and don’t take any personal risk to take a photo.

Updated

This is some pretty incredible footage from above Townsville’s Black Weir.

The Queensland Disaster Management Committee met this morning. The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is expected to provide an update on the situation in about half an hour.

Here is some information about the best way to donate to help those impacted by the floods.

Amid record floods, Townsville residents urged to conserve water

The flood waters are putting pressure on Townsville’s water treatment plant and have resulted in burst water pipes in some parts of the city.

As a result, residents are being urged to conserve water.

Updated

It’s not just people in Townsville and surrounding areas who are being affected by the floods crisis.

Flooded highways mean routes to far north Queensland are blocked and it’s resulted in bare food shelves at some supermarkets in towns north of Townsville, such as Cairns.

Updated

This graph from the Townsville council gives a fair indication of how quickly the Ross River dam has filled.

Updated

As Ben noted, the Ross River dam is expected to peak about 11am Queensland time – so in about one hour and 15 minutes.

Earlier, people had been heading to the dam to view the spectacle. It’s now closed to the public.

Updated

There are about 1,000 people at five evacuation centres across Townsville.

Updated

My colleague Ben Smee notes:

Since 1940, Townsville’s average yearly rainfall is 1129.7mm. Since Sunday the rain gauge at Townsville airport has measured 977.2mm. That’s approaching a year’s rainfall in eight days.

Ingham, to the north of Townsville, had an extraordinary 419mm of rain yesterday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The airport is now closed. On ABC North Queensland, we’ve heard that about 16,500 homes have been without power.

Updated

These are the text messages that Townsville residents received last night as flood levels quickly rose. Still, today, residents in some areas are being told to find higher ground.

Updated

On Sunday the Townsville council posted a map showing which homes might be inundated by rising flood waters. Most estimates suggest up to 20,000 homes may be impacted.

Updated

The Ross River dam was at 236% capacity at 7am local time. It is dropping about 1% in capacity every hour, despite the release of 1,900 cubic metres a minute from the open floodgates.

Authorities decided to release the large amounts of water on Sunday night in response to the risk that the dam would fail. Disaster plans show most of the city would be inundated if the dam does collapse.

Ross River dam releases water
Ross River dam releases water.

In the premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s words the release was “to make sure the water had somewhere to go”.

Any drop in the dam’s volume is positive news. But the potential for more heavy rainfall remains.

Updated

At this stage, authorities expect the Ross River to peak about 11am, and for the peak to last most of today.

That’s potentially good news for Townsville residents, especially those under threat but not yet underwater. It’s also a sign that the flood emergency is unlikely to end any time soon.

The local disaster management committee is meeting at 9am, after which locals should be given updated advice.

Updated

Overnight, Townsville residents were warned to stay out of the water – and for good reason. A number of crocodiles sightings have been reported, while the authorities also warned of snakes in the water.

A freshwater crocodile spotted on O’Reilly Street, Mundingburra, on Sunday night during the Townsville floods
A freshwater crocodile spotted on O’Reilly Street, Mundingburra, on Sunday night during the Townsville floods. Photograph: Erin Hahn

Updated

Officials made the difficult decision to open the floodgates of Townsville’s Ross River dam overnight. The dam was at nearly 250% capacity at midnight.

As the floodgates opened at 8pm, the waterlogged city was inundated with another 1,900 litres of water a second.

The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, told the Nine network: “We’ve never seen anything like this before. In Queensland, of course, we’re used to seeing natural disasters, but Townsville has never seen the likes of this.”

Palaszczuk said there were more than 900 people in evacuation centres and that number was expected to increase during the day.

Updated

Welcome

Hello and thanks for joining our coverage of the Queensland floods, described by the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, as a “once-in-a-century flood”. My name is Luke Henriques-Gomes.

Annastacia Palaszczuk after a meeting of the state disaster management committee
Annastacia Palaszczuk after a meeting of the state disaster management committee. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Over the past 24 hours, the Queensland Fire and Emergency received 850 calls for help. Among those rescued were two police officers who became caught in the flood waters.

There are fears for about 20,000 homes in what is now being called Townsville’s worst flood on record, with the local Ross River dam now at about 242% capacity. Emergency warnings are in place for 21 suburbs.

Please stay with us for rolling coverage of the day’s events.

Updated

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