Break in weather
REDLYNCH woman Caroline Preston (left) made the most of the wet weather to play fetch with her staffordshire terrier, Pluto, in Ryan Weare Park at Freshwater yesterday. The downpours of up to 500mm over two days, which are expected to ease off today, caused problems for motorists across the Far North with this hole (above) opening up on Mt Peter Rd at Edmonton.
EMERGENCY service bosses have praised the readiness of Far Northern residents in dangerous conditions brought on by a two-day downpour.
SES volunteers received only a handful of call-outs on Monday and yesterday, predominantly to assist with fallen trees or minor flooding around homes.
Many roads were cut for periods throughout the downpour, including both the Kuranda and Gillies ranges, while a section of Mt Peter Rd at Edmonton was completely destroyed.
Three backpackers had to be rescued from the roof of their car which was swamped by a swollen Mulgrave River near Gordonvale yesterday.
The trio had reportedly been too scared to swim to safety after waking up surrounded by water amid fears about crocodiles.
Far North police Supt Geoff Sheldon said it showed just how quickly conditions could change in the region.
SES Far Northern regional manager Wayne Coutts said he was impressed by locals’ response to the conditions.
“It seems to be quite obvious that people have taken steps to prepare,” he said.
“Those in low-lying areas had sandbags already.”
The heaviest rainfall yesterday was centred around areas just south of Cairns.
Morgan Rd at Gordonvale (280mm), Peets Bridge at Goldsborough (273mm) and Gordonvale Alert (259mm) recorded the highest 24-hour totals.
Peets Bridge remained under water for most of the day although traffic was flowing again by the afternoon.
A vehicle rolled near Yungaburra late yesterday, cutting the Gillies Range for several hours with reports the driver suffered minor injuries.
Traffic light outages slowed commuters from both the north and south of Cairns yesterday morning.
A head-on collision and fallen trees also resulted in the closure of the Kuranda Range for some time yesterday morning.
The Rex Range at Julatten and Pine Creek Rd to Yarrabah were also still closed last night.
See video of the cairnspost.com.au