North Queensland braces for more floods with forecast of 250mm of rain
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Version 0 of 1. Related: Queensland flash flooding hampers rescue crews at freight train derailment North Queensland communities have been warned to prepare for potentially flooding rain. More than 250mm of rain could be dumped on parts of the tropical coast on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. Towns that may be affected include Ingham, Innisfail, Cardwell, Tully, Rollingstone and Babinda. Some areas have already been saturated, with between 50mm and 160mm of rain falling between Townsville and Rollingstone in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning. The weather bureau has issued a flood watch for the Gulf Rivers catchments and an initial flood watch for the north tropical coast between Babinda and Rollingstone. A minor flood warning is current for the Flinders River. Related: Northern Territory floods: woman dies, hundreds evacuated and saltwater crocs in town The looming heavy rain and thunderstorms are due to a wind surge combining with an unstable and extremely moist air mass. Conditions are due to ease on Wednesday, with the heaviest rain expected to move offshore. The bureau has issued a severe weather warning for abnormally high tides as a monsoonal low hangs over the Northern Territory and extends a strong wind flow over the Gulf of Carpentaria. Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Michael Knepp said the low could track in a southerly direction and dump more rain on parts of Queensland. “Its [path is] a bit uncertain now,” he said. |