Queensland residents have been told to conserve and stop the “non-essential use” of water after heavy monsoonal rainfall impacted infrastructure overnight.
The state’s Fire and Emergency Service issues the emergency alert to locals living in Port Douglas, Mossman and Newell Beach on Friday just before 8:30am.
“The Douglas Shire Council advises residents in these areas to conserve water by ceasing non-essential water use, as water infrastructure in the area has been affected by recent rainfall,” it said on X, formerly, Twitter.
Far North Queensland was battered by more rain on Thursday night with falls of at least 200 millimetres reported in 24 hours, just weeks after ex tropical cyclone Jasper and storms wreaked havoc across the region and caused millions of dollars in damage.
The Bureau of Meteorology on Friday morning warned residents in the region that further heavy rainfalls were forecast between Port Douglas and Daintree, with the system also possibly making its way to Wujal Wujal in the north.
“Six-hourly rainfall totals between 140 and 180 mm are possible,” BoM said.
The heavy rain is set to ease in the afternoon and into the night.
With the large amounts of rain come warnings of flooding and road closures.
The Douglas Shire Council has already advised those in the area that roads north of the Daintree River have been closed with a high tide expected at 10am.
The Daintree Ferry has also ceased services.
The council has also reported landslips and rockfalls.
“Once the rainfall eases, Council will assess the roads and provide an update to the community,” it said, urging residents to check its website and social media for updates.
Australia Meteorologist Bradlyn Oakes said conditions continue to deteriorate in Queensland’s Far North as heavy rainfalls continue.
“We are seeing a lot of precipitation continuing to come down and it is a dangerous evolving situation at this point,” she said.
Port Douglas is one of the areas being closely monitored in coming days.
“What we’re really watching for over the next week or so is many areas seeing heavy rainfall, but of course, we’re watching for severe thunderstorm activity that could lead to localised heavy falls, which is what we’re watching for today,” Oakes said
(SKY NEWS)
