By Peter Michael and Andrew MacDonald
TROPICAL Queensland is on high alert with flash flooding and mudslides a real threat due to a predicted 500mm torrential downpour on Christmas Day.
Emergency crews and disaster groups from Cooktown to Rockhampton have been activated ahead of a fast-moving tropical storm cell forecast to hit north of Cairns early tomorrow.
Most of Queensland is expected to be awash under the monsoonal low as the deluge dumps hundreds of millimetres along the entire length of the state’s already rain-soaked coast.
Thousands of stranded motorists yesterday faced a bleak Christmas with highways and roads cut in the flood-ravaged far north.
Most of the north from Daintree to Townsville was bucketed with more than 100mm of rainfall yesterday, with Ingham recording more than 300mm.
Cairns Police District Superintendent Brian Connors said forecasters had warned of an “unbelievable downpour” in the next 48 hours out of the vast tropical thunderstorm cell.
“No one knows quite how the flooding hot spots will cope under those phenomenal conditions,” Supt Connors said.
Townsville’s iconic Castle Hill is likely to be closed with fears more than 240mm of rainfall will trigger a repeat of the 2002 mudslide that inundated hillside homes.
Innisfail police are scouring the town hit by Cyclone Larry in 2006 for the local owner of a van and trailer found underwater in a flooded creek near Cowley.
“It is a mystery to have a vehicle wash up in middle of creek,” District Inspector David Tucker said.
Emergency Management Queensland assistant director-general Bruce Grady urged motorists to think long and hard about their travel plans in light of the weather warnings.
“The likelihood is that if you are on the road this Christmas, you are going to be held up or stranded at some point in that journey, so you need to have your plans in place,” Mr Grady said.
“The advice is to question the need to go in the first place.”
Hundreds of travellers were yesterday already stuck in a 2km-long gridlock on the Bruce Highway near Rollingstone, between Townsville and Ingham.
James Gillespie, 24, of Brisbane, said his road trip had ground to a halt.
“There are hundreds of cars and trucks lined up as far as the eye can see,” the advertising account manager said.
“Everyone is trying to keep their spirits high.
“We can’t go forward and don’t want to go back.”
The Tully River at Tully and the Mulgrave River, south of Cairns on the highway, are predicted to flood under the forecast heavy rainfall.
The Herbert River at Ingham is expected to peak at 5.5m after more than 300mm was dumped on the rain-soaked region yesterday.
Swedish student Emmy Hajjkvist, 21, said she and her friends had luxury hotels booked in Cairns and trips planned up until New Year’s Eve in a “trip of a lifetime”.
She said she had no idea the climate in Australia was so wild and unpredictable.
“We are hoping for a break in the weather to give us a window of opportunity to get through,” she said.
“We don’t fancy spending Christmas on the side of the road.”
The drenching is tipped to continue well into next week.
Swift-water rescue crews have been deployed to Bowen, Airlie Beach, Proserpine, Bundaberg and Ingham to complement existing teams.
In Chinchilla, nervous residents watched on as Charley’s Creek continued rising after failing to reach its forecast peak early yesterday.
Councillor Bill McCutcheon, of Western Downs Regional Council, said though major flooding in town was some way off, the Warrego Highway would likely become cut if heavy rain fell in coming days.
Source: www.heraldsun.com.au
