Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Roads remain cut by north Qld floods
Travellers can expect lengthy delays on the Bruce Highway after heavy rain in north Queensland cut the vital artery while four campers had to be rescued.
January 30, 2019
Queensland’s Bruce Highway remains cut in multiple places after the heavy rain that caused the Daintree River’s record-breaking flood pushed south dumping more heavy rain and standing some campers.
Late on Tuesday the vital traffic artery remained cut in four places between Cairns and Mackay, with travellers warned of lengthy delays.
Police had to mount a rescue after floods cut off a group of campers near Townsville.
The two women, aged 29 and 26, and two men, 31 and 28, became stranded while camping at Tabletop Station at Hervey Range.
Rescue helicopters from Townsville were unable to reach the group because of the weather, with a mustering helicopter from Charters Towers called in to ferry the four to safety.
The flash flooding is affecting traffic in both directions on the Bruce Highway and motorists have been warned not to attempt to drive through the water.
Four schools in the region also remain closed after road closures cut access
The traffic chaos comes after a slow-moving monsoonal trough dumped more than 350mm of rain on the area around Proserpine, north of Mackay, in the 24 hours.
It’s the same weather system that dropped almost 500mm on the Daintree River in 24 hours late last week.
Forecasters are warning residents from Mount Isa to Mackay and south to Windorah to expect further heavy falls on Wednesday.
The system is expected to swing around to the north late on Thursday, back toward catchments that have already been inundated.