Hundreds of homes under threat amid rising floodwaters
Hundreds of homes are expected to be affected as rising floodwaters peak in a wet community.
Thousands of people could be isolated for days in Queensland’s regional capital Bundaberg after the Burnett River burst its banks, triggering memories of the 2010 disaster.
More than 400 homes and businesses are under threat as the river reached 7.6 meters early on Wednesday.
This is just below the 7.92m level 16 years ago, when the city of more than 70,000 people was flooded and hundreds were forced to evacuate.
Locals were asked to leave the area late Tuesday, just before the community’s two major bridges were closed, leaving around 10,000 people potentially in isolation for several days.
Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn has acknowledged the impact on the mental health of people exposed to previous floods and implored them to prioritize their personal safety.
“We’re not new to this, we’ve done it before,” he said.
“We can change goods, we can’t change people.”
Extra emergency services, including water rescue teams and more than 30 police officers, were sent to the Bundaberg region in preparation.
Almost 800 roads across Queensland have been blocked by floodwaters after nearly 1000 livestock were killed following the devastation caused by tropical rains.
Flooding also affected the Northern Territory.
Increasing rain has disrupted clean-up efforts in Katherine, where hundreds of people remain in shelters, houses are still without electricity and crocodiles have been seen in floodwaters.
Hundreds of residents from the communities of Daly River, Palumpa, Beswick and Jilkminggan were airlifted over the weekend, mostly to Darwin.
Residents in the NT capital have been urged to minimize water use after the Darwin River Dam pumping station was closed due to flooding.
Temporary generators have been installed to ensure full water supply in the coming days.
Darwin residents have been thanked for restricting use, but there are still plans to reduce water pressure in homes to deal with the issue as the pump station is repaired.
The Bureau of Meteorology said flood watches were in place across much of the NT, particularly along the north-west coast of the Top End, including Darwin.
“Any river, creek, lagoon, billabong, any waterway within that flood watch area is going to be very, very susceptible to severe falls that could occur,” the bureau’s Shenage Gamble told reporters Tuesday.
This could easily lead to localized flash flooding, he said.
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