People in parts of north Queensland have been flooded in for days and more huge rainfall totals are expected over the weekend.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00We're on the banks of the Don River, which does have a flood watch at the moment.
00:06Now, communities in Bowen this morning have been, and all into the afternoon, have been
00:11preparing, doing the usual things, sandbagging, getting their emergency kits ready, that kind
00:16of thing.
00:17But they've also been taking things in their stride in a typical North Queensland way.
00:21We spoke to many people who were just kind of waiting out the rain at the pub.
00:25We also have spoken to some people who were on watch for brown snakes coming up from the
00:29river.
00:30But when we did speak to the Mayor this morning, he wanted to make everyone aware that, you
00:35know, this really is going to be a protected weather event.
00:38There's going to be falls of up to 500 millimetres coming to this area, and people really need
00:43to be prepared.
00:44Here's a little bit of what he had to say earlier.
00:47We're continuing to monitor.
00:48We're getting updates through from, you know, the District Disaster Unit and also State
00:53Disaster Unit regularly.
00:56So yeah, we're keeping our finger on the pulse with that.
00:59They are low-pressure systems at the moment.
01:01There is still a small chance that they could develop.
01:04So really just making sure that we're prepared, we're communicating with the public, and just
01:08being vigilant through this time.
01:10Yeah, so what's the chances could develop into a cyclone?
01:15Well that was the fear, Joe.
01:16The fear was that this low-pressure system off the coast of North Queensland would make
01:20landfall as a cyclone, though it's looking less likely that that's going to occur.
01:25But that doesn't mean that things might be any less severe.
01:28There is a severe weather warning from where I am here in Bowen, right up to Tully.
01:33There's also been widespread falls, and as you can see, obviously, the rain is really
01:37coming down here.
01:38That's sort of started to pick up over the last half an hour or so.
01:41So really, as I said before, the message is for the communities who are right up here
01:46from Bowen, right up to Tully.
01:47That includes areas like Townsville, still some parts of Innisfail.
01:51Just be vigilant, be aware, and be prepared for this weather that is expected to come
01:56across the next few days and into the weekend.