BRING IT ON
Waterlogged but region ready for anything
THE waters that caused widespread flooding and cut off the Bruce Highway have receded, and the clean-up has begun.
Disaster managers have started to take stock of the extreme weather that entered Far North Queenslanders’ homes, caused evacuations on the Tablelands, and ultimately resulted in bare supermarket shelves in Cairns.
With Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk touring affected areas yesterday, authorities say the disaster response across the region shows just how well the Far North is prepared for extreme weather.
And this is just as well, as the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting more severe weather for the region in the week to come.
A FAR Northern mayor says he is ready for whatever else the wet season throws at the region, with more wild weather predicted this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has warned Cape York residents to brace for more extreme weather, as a monsoon trough is expected to become more active in the region during the next couple of days.
It comes as heavy rain in the Cassowary Coast and Hinchinbrook regions that caused widespread flooding, eased up yesterday allowing access to the Bruce Highway south of Cardwell.
The national highway, however, was still expected to be cut off today.
Corsis, southwest of Innisfail, received the heaviest rainfall of 191mm from the 48-hour period to 2.30pm yesterday.
Emergency services flood boats were involved in five property evacuations in Innisfail, moving 11 people.
Cassowary Coast Mayor John Kremastos said the waters were receding across the region yesterday, with no more localised flooding in populated areas.
“By all accounts, this has been a 1-in-20-year event,” he said.
“We’ve had flooding in both the North and South Johnstone Rivers before, at the same time, in 1999.
“So this hasn’t been an insignificant event, but with our protocols we have in places and our teams being active and out all weekend, we’ve mitigated any damage.
“We’re quite comfortable where we are, at the moment and I believe our teams are well prepared for anything that might come our way.”
He said it was too early to estimate the damage bill from the flooding, however the council would apply for federal disaster relief funding.
Aleisha Ramage took every step she could to protect her home in Oak St, Innisfail, but it wasn’t enough.
Ms Ramage lost her oneyear-old son Isias’ belongings, and her parents lost all of their white goods and generators.
She said that despite the devastation, she and her family would clean up and prepare for the rest of the wet season.
“We’ll clean everything up and take all of our stuff to the dump,” she said. “This is the worst flood I can remember, but I think that a lot of people on our street have it worse.
“We just have to rebuild.”