Relentless monsoon batters northern Australia with record-breaking March rainfall
Australia is on track to record one of its wettest Marches in history as the brutal “double-touch” of monsoon weather hits the north and west of the country.
After a week in which Queensland and the Top End were hit by record-breaking rainfall, the focus has shifted to dangerous tropical lows now located near the Northern Territory-Kimberley border.
Satellite images from NASA show the stark difference between floodwaters in Queensland’s Channel Country and along the Georgina and Diamantina Rivers.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicts that the western half of the NT and adjacent parts of Western Australia could see between 50 and 100 mm of rain over the next four days.
Isolated pockets could see this climb up to 200mm.
The system threatens to dump several months’ worth of rain in just 48 hours.
Since the beginning of March, numerous rivers in both Queensland and the NT have exceeded major flood thresholds.
According to Senior Bureau meteorologist Angus Hines, “water levels are expected to drop” in areas hardest hit by the recent floods, such as Katherine.
However, he said that although heavy rain is expected in these areas for the next few days, “it will not rain enough to cause flooding.”
There is currently “major record flooding” west of the Daly River and local people are being evacuated.
This situation is likely to continue for several more days before water levels drop; Rivers along the east coast experiencing moderate to severe flooding are now beginning to subside.
This includes the Burnett River flowing through Bundaberg, where flood levels are approaching the devastating levels reached in 2010.
Katherine suffered its worst flooding in years on March 6 when the river breached its major 17.5 meter mark.
By the weekend the river had reached levels not seen since 2006 (19.0m); This is a chilling comparison to the 1998 floods.
The surge triggered a major emergency response, with Northern Territory Emergency Services (NTES) and SecureNT maintaining a high level of alert.
“Residents across the region need to remain vigilant and prepared as conditions continue to evolve,” a SecureNT spokesperson warned.
As of Saturday morning, the river had dropped to 12.75 meters but was still being “closely monitored”, according to the NT government.
Eight to five people remain in evacuation centers in Katherine, according to the state government’s latest update.
Parts of Queensland recorded the highest three-day rainfall totals on record between Sunday and Tuesday last week; extreme weather conditions proved fatal.
Chinese tourists Qingwei Qui, 26, and Yuchen Guo, 23, were found dead inside their car near Kilkivan on Thursday and the alarm was raised on Wednesday after the pair failed to reach their destination in the North Burnett.
Their car had veered off the bridge into floodwaters.
A desperate search continues for a man missing in floodwaters after falling off his houseboat near Bundaberg.
