Cairns flooding: Child among group stranded on hospital roof as flood emergency grips far north Queensland

Planes are disappearing underwater at Cairns Airport. Photo / Joseph Dietz

A child is among a group of people stranded on the roof of a remote hospital after ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper caused record flooding in far north Queensland.

Hundreds of people have been rescued, with the navy assisting, after some areas were hit by almost one metre of rain overnight, with more falls to come on Monday.

One of the worst-hit communities is Wujal Wujal, north of Cairns, where nine people including a 7-year-old child and health workers are stranded on a hospital roof.

The Aboriginal community received 260mm of rain overnight but floodwaters are easing, allowing a rescue party to assist the stranded group on Monday.

Residents in far north Queensland are bracing for more rain and further significant flooding.

“We are providing support to those people now,” state disaster co-ordinator Shane Chelepy told reporters.

“The safest place for those people right now is on the roof of that hospital until we can get emergency services in there.”

Up to 300 rescues have already been carried out north of Cairns, with about 10,000 people still without power.

More than 1000 calls for assistance have been received.

Hard to capture the volume of water on video but walking in I could feel the ground shaking amidst a deafening roar. An unprecedented 6ft of rain fell on the catchment over the past few days. #cairnsflood pic.twitter.com/xrR56HaAwm

— Paul Webster (@Cassowary_Man) December 17, 2023

Much of the Far North is underwater tonight, as a result of the most severe flooding the region has experienced in almost 50 years. Low-lying homes have been inundated and another six to 12 hours of heavy rain is forecast for tonight. 📍EMERGENCY ALERTS: https://t.co/AllY4QqW77 pic.twitter.com/IXsnqlaC6n

— Cairns Post (@TheCairnsPost) December 17, 2023

Hundreds of people have been evacuated with HMAS Cairns naval base assisting.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) will send more troops from Townsville while emergency services will be airlifted to Cairns on Monday.

“We will deliver along with the Queensland Government... whatever is necessary,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said of the ADF support.

“The important thing at this point in time is to ensure that people are kept safe,” Albanese said.

“A number of people are isolated and have needed rescuing from their terrible circumstances so our thoughts go to all people in those communities.”

A rain gauge at Myola has received 2,025 mm of rain during 5 days ending at 9am today. This is more rainfall than Cairns or Darwin usually receive in a whole year. pic.twitter.com/ubWNXNyDgP

— Ben Domensino (@Ben_Domensino) December 18, 2023

This is Cairns today. The Cairns community is dealing with significant flooding after Tropical Cyclone Jasper made landfall. Our government is working closely with the Qld government to ensure assistance is available to those who need it. pic.twitter.com/wwV6CcLtDc

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 17, 2023

There are major flood warnings for the Barron, Mossman and Daintree Rivers.

The far north has been inundated due to a trough associated with ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper, which is lingering on the peninsula’s west coast.

Yandill near the Daintree has received 684mm since 9am on Sunday while Myola near Mossman recorded 638mm and the Cairns airport 307mm.

Roads to Cairns are cut off and the airport is closed with some planes underwater.

MAJOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING AT CAIRNS AIRPORT AND KAMERUNGA BRIDGE DURING SUNDAY EVENING.

RIVER LEVELS ARE NOW ABOVE THE MARCH 1977 FLOOD LEVEL.

For flood emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500. For life threatening emergencies, call Triple Zero (000) immediately. pic.twitter.com/1JERjfeLrG

— Queensland Ambulance (@QldAmbulance) December 17, 2023

“Some areas have received 1.5 metres to 2 metres of rainfall since we first felt the effects of Tropical Cyclone Jasper,” a Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson told AAP.

A photo from yesterday shows a road closed due to flooding at Hinchinbrook in Queensland.

Rain is finally set to ease on Monday as the ex-cyclone gradually moves north after hovering on the peninsula since first impacting the Queensland coast mid last week.

“However we do have several hours of heavy rainfall before the system is able to weaken and move away,” the bureau warned.

Hundreds of homes are flooded in Cairns where levels have reached record levels “by a substantial amount”, according to James Cook University geo-hydrologist Professor Jonathan Nott.

Due to large numbers of urgent calls for assistance from the Halloways Beach, Machans Beach and Yorkeys Knob area, we have deployed significant rescue vessels including SES flood boats, QFES rescue boats, QPS water police vessels, surf lifesaving vessels and local vessels.

🧵1/8 pic.twitter.com/IEgB7J83pN

— Steven Miles (@StevenJMiles) December 17, 2023

Cairns residents have been told to only use water for emergencies with treatment plants offline.

The area was pre-emptively declared a disaster zone last week.

“People have been devastated and of course it’s a very dangerous situation for many who are in very unprecedented floodwaters,” Albanese told ABC.

“The forecast tragically is predicting more rain still throughout today and the major flood warnings are in place for several communities which are already cut off or without power.

“We have activated already financial support for residents directly impacted as well as for local councils to assist in what will be a major clean-up.”

Federal disaster assistance has been extended to more areas to help residents and local councils cover response and reconstruction costs.