Torrential rain destroyed Queensland and New South Wales in Australia in the wake of ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie, whose damage is estimated to run into billions of dollars.
In recent weeks, at least five people have died in the floods that saturated both Australian states, the death toll expected to rise with a few more people missing. Debbie, for instance, hammered north Queensland and also brought huge rainfall to areas such as Sydney in NSW.
Rockhampton Flooding
The town of Rockhampton in Queensland is bracing for what some would call a “once in a hundred year” flooding event, where waters were anticipated to peak at 9 meters (29.5 feet) Monday morning and over 5,000 properties were deemed at risk.
Huffington Post Australia reported, however, that it has not rained in the town since Friday, with not 1 millimeter of rain recorded in the location since March 31 at 9 in the morning. The flooding will have something to do with the Fitzroy River, running through Rockhampton’s middle and comprising the Fitzroy basin.
Double the size of Tasmania, the area has been collecting rain for a week now due to the cyclone, warned Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist James Thompson. The river will dump a lot more floodwater right into Rockhampton in the next couple of days.
"Debbie crossed the coast last Tuesday, and it wasn't until Wednesday it started moving south. That region got a lot of rain, but all that water took a while to get into rivers,” explained Thompson, adding that Rockhampton waters are set to dramatically increase from Tuesday and peak on Wednesday.
Rockhampton braces itself for its worst flood in six decades, where as many as 8,000 homes and 20,000 individuals could be affected as the river’s water begins to swell.
Damage To Life And Properties
Queensland’s premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that it may be too early to estimate the amount of damages, but revealed that there was huge destruction on roads and infrastructure, crops, as well as homes. About 300 schools, too, needed repairs after the severe weather event.
The Insurance Council of Australia or ICA said that there have been over 13,000 claims that relate to cyclone-induced weather events.
“This level of catastrophe [produced] storms and flooding [that] affected large parts of Queensland and NSW and caused insurance losses of almost $1.2 billion,” ICA CEO Rob Whelan said in a Business Insider report.
Authorities continue with search and rescue operations, including that of an Australian family being rescued from the roof of their house 15 minutes before it broke and got carried away in floodwaters. The rescue happened in a Luscombe neighborhood in Queensland’s Gold Coast hinterland.
Apart from impending flooding, residents have been warned of contaminated water as well, where debris, sewerage, and chemical content could wreak havoc on their health and safety. Watch out for Australian wildlife that could have also sought refuge in homes, including snakes and rats, officials emphasized.
Receding water, however, is not a ready sign that all is well.
“In some places the water has receded, but please heed the warnings,” said NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian.
