An extreme weather system fuelled by two tropical lows has turned deadly after a woman was killed in floodwaters amid emergency warnings and evacuations, with more record rainfalls forecast.
Heavy rain is impacting vast regions of north Queensland extending from Mackay to the south of Cairns.
Emergency warnings are in place for six Townsville suburbs in the locally named “black zone”, where residents have been told to leave.
Premier David Crisafulli warned residents not to be complacent after a 63-year-old woman died when a swift water rescue boat hit a tree on Sunday.
“There is more rain to come, and there is the prospect of record rainfalls … I’m just asking people just take the precautions, prepare for the worst, listen to the advice,” he told reporters on Sunday.
Police said the woman was one of six people in a State Emergency Service (SES) boat assisting members of the public through floodwaters when it struck a tree and flipped.
After a days-long deluge, the Bureau of Meteorology said more significant rainfall was expected on Monday and Tuesday due to a slow-moving, low-pressure system and a monsoonal trough.
“Unfortunately as we get into Monday morning and into Tuesday … there’s a feed of moisture and convergence around the Cardwell-Ayr area,” the bureau’s Dean Narramore said.
“We’re likely to see major to record flooding occur on some of our rivers.”
An evacuation warning was issued for Bluewater, near Townsville, on Sunday with residents urged to leave immediately.
Defence personnel and police door-knocked thousands of homes across the weekend to warn people in at-risk areas to prepare to evacuate.
Townsville and surrounds have already received between 500mm and 800mm, with more rainfall of up to 500mm in some areas.
Roads are cut, Townsville’s airport has been closed and dozens of schools have shut.
The Bruce Highway – the state’s major north-south freight and commuter corridor – was closed at Cluden, between Townsville and Ayr and Ingham to Yabula.
A further 267mm of rain lashed Paluma between Ingham and Townsville in six hours, with the bureau warning on Sunday that intense rainfall could lead to life-threatening flash flooding.
Energy Queensland said it turned off the substation supplying power to about 6700 properties around Ingham while the community of Palm Island went dark after a landslide damaged the electricity network.
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