Just Swamped

Left: Wallabies marooned on the only high ground for miles outside of Ingham. Pic: Rob Maccoll


Northern Queensland is just a mess right now:

MORE than 60 per cent of Queensland is covered by floodwaters and more devastation is expected as two lows threaten to develop into cyclones.

The amount of rain that fell around Ingham in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday was almost half of what fell in Brisbane all of last year.

Scores of houses in the northern sugar town have been damaged by flooding and hundreds of people are marooned by rising water, adding to a crisis now spreading across the state.

The monsoonal downpour is the most severe in more than 30 years.

Two men were rescued after more than three and a half hours clinging to a tree in the middle of a flooded creek near Innisfail last night.

Ingham, about 100km north of Townsville, was a microcosm of the heartache that has followed the cyclones and torrential rain affecting 60 per cent of Queensland since the start of 2009.

The damage bill has already topped $100 million but is expected to rapidly rise as the floodwaters recede and reveal the true extent of damage to infrastructure, businesses and homes.

Deputy Premier Paul Lucas and Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts found a town in good spirits but preparing for a long recovery when they toured Ingham by air and boat yesterday.

Floodwaters surrounded the town and covered many of its streets, trapping many residents inside unless they had a boat or were able to hitch a lift on a passing tinnie.

Mr Lucas said it was "heartbreaking" to see the floodwaters had seeped into the living areas of about 50 houses in the town of 6500 people.

A further 2000 homes had water through their yards and their owners were anxiously watching a low-pressure system off the coast that could develop into a cyclone.

"People need to understand that the ground in north and far north Queensland is as wet as it can be," Mr Lucas said.

"It's like pouring water over a damp towel so there is nowhere for this rain to be absorbed.

"It floods, it pools and my great fear is we do get another cyclone and it dumps more rain and the ground just can't take any more."

...Hinchinbrook Mayor Pino Giandomenico said the amount of rain since Sunday had been "horrendous".

"The last time we had something like this was 30 years ago," Cr Giandomenico said.

"People think that once the water recedes it's all over but once the water recedes that's when the work really starts and that's when we need all the people here."

He said many residents had been forced to temporarily seek refuge at the homes of relatives or friends while others were sleeping at the local high school, where emergency accommodation had been set up in the library.

"As you go round the street and talk to people they're reasonably calm, they're concerned, everybody's concerned but I think we'll get through it," Cr Giandomenico said.

"We're a resilient mob."