Residents and stranded travellers in a central west Queensland town are prepared for a “major” flood level this weekend, as water moves through already swollen river systems.
Winton Shire Mayor Cathy White said low-lying properties had been sandbagged, as swift-water rescue and SES teams from Rockhampton and Gladstone were deployed to the area for the week.
“We are expecting more water to come down … but we are hoping the water that’s there now will be able to get on its way down to the Diamantina [River],” Cr White said.
SES crews from Rockhampton and Gladstone are working to secure homes and businesses in Winton. (Supplied: Peter Ryan)
Water has surrounded the western side of the town, blocking roads, however the road to the east between Longreach and Winton reopened on Saturday afternoon.
The town received another downpour last night, and a moderate flood warning remains in place.Â
“We may not open roads for a couple of days … but it’s an evolving beast, every day it’s something different. As soon as those roads are passable and safe, they’ll be open,” Cr White said.
Flood protection measures at a motel in Winton. (Supplied: Sam Gould)
Tourists stranded
Sam Gould had been on her way home to Darwin after spending the holidays with family in Hervey Bay, Queensland.
Instead, she has spent the last six days in Winton.
“We’ve been pretty lucky, there’s about 12 of us that are stuck trying to get back to Darwin or Mount Isa,” she said.
Stranded tourists have made the most of each other’s company in Winton. (Supplied: Sam Gould)
Ms Gould said many people were in the same situation.
“We were sanded into our motels, waist high with sandbags at the entrance and exit … it’s a bit confronting, especially if this is your first flood,” she said.
“This is the first time I can stand out the back of my motel room and watch the floodwaters going by.”
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There is no official total for livestock losses yet, but McKinlay Shire Mayor Janene Fegan said some graziers in the region expected to have lost half of their cattle.
“Losses will be up there, 50 per cent and up. Especially baby calves — they’re not going to survive, there’s no way they can outswim it,” she said.
It is too soon for graziers to take stock of losses and damage from the flooding event. (Supplied: Janene Fegan)
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“Graziers don’t know the full extent; they’re just feeding the stock they can and moving stock to higher ground. Some [flood] widths are 20 kilometres.”
Isolated rain continues to fall on already saturated ground.
With limited ability for water to drain away, Cr Fegan said constant daily rainfall totals did not need to be high to continue causing issues.
“For instance, 25 millimetres here is probably equivalent to 150mm on the coast because it runs away,” she said.
“It’s a lot of water to be running very quickly, but [in north-west Queensland] it does take a while to go.”
Flood waters stretch as far as the eye can see north of Julia Creek. (Supplied: Janene Fegan)
Headed for the coast
Senior meteorologist Harry Clark said while the region had been swamped, there was also concern for coastal areas in the state’s north.
“Any further heavy falls on the north Queensland coastline in the next 24 hours could increase the risk of flash flooding and riverine flooding for Cairns through to Proserpine,” he said.
Forecasters are also keeping their eye on a weather system brewing off the north Queensland coastline.
“As we go into next week, a tropical low is forming off the coast … in the short term there’s a very low chance of that becoming a tropical cyclone, that chance increases slightly by Thursday,” he said.
The weather system that has drenched the north-west region over the past week is expected to slowly contract out of the state’s west and move towards the coast, Mr Clark said.