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Sunday, December 22, 2024

Already soaked, Queensland braces for more wild weather

Monsoonal rain and thunderstorms are developing across an already soaked far north Queensland. 

With severe conditions expected to persist into next week, relief crews are on standby for more wild weather, with another cyclone threat looming. 

A monsoon trough in the Gulf of Carpentaria may form a tropical low, with a low chance of developing further into a tropical cyclone on Sunday.

Either way, heavy rain and flood warnings are expected.

Premier Steven Miles said work had been done to ensure emergency crews already on the ground were ready for the next disaster.

“We’ve made sure we’ve rotated our first responders to manage their fatigue, to make sure they have had days off between the disasters,” he said.

“If and when the next one strikes, and we know in Queensland the next disaster is always just around the corner, we have to make sure they’re ready.”

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe warning over parts of the northern Queensland on Saturday morning, with 171mm falling at Kowanyama.

That warning was later cancelled.

Cairns Mayor Terry James said residents should start preparing with heavy rain to coincide with king tides.

“We … need to be prepared for flash flooding and potentially cyclones,” he said.

In the latest downpour, Douglas Shire, north of Cairns, was one of the worst hit.

Landslips and rockfalls forced all roads north of the Daintree River to be closed, with one community recording 234mm of rain.

Other Douglas Shire areas are on water restrictions after damage to the mains supply.

The wet weather struck a region still reeling from record flooding caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper weeks ago.

Seqwater advised outflows from Leslie Harrison Dam had increased due to continuing rain in the catchment area.

Police and Community Safety Minister Mark Ryan said authorities would be monitoring the far north, with emergency crews ready to be deployed from across Queensland if required.

“If there is extreme weather predicted for a particular area, additional resources will be deployed there as quickly as possible,” he said.

Queensland’s southeast is also recovering after storms hit Logan, the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim over Christmas.

Power has been restored to 130,000 homes but the clean-up continues with 200 tonnes of waste collected at Logan alone.

A major surf boat carnival at Tugun this weekend has been cancelled due to “surf and beach conditions”.

It follows the decision to close dozens of beaches along the Gold Coast. 

The federal government on Saturday announced it would extend disaster assistance payments to more people seriously impacted by the severe storms. 

The Australian government disaster payments will be available from Monday.

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