What Are the Latest Flood Emergency Warnings in Queensland, Australia?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Sydney, Jan 13 (NationPress) Flood alerts have been declared throughout the northeastern state of Queensland in Australia as ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji continues unleashing heavy downpours.
As of Tuesday morning, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issued several flood warnings for rivers and catchments in central, northeastern, and northwestern Queensland, with some areas experiencing over a year's worth of rain within just one week.
In the small town of Clermont, located approximately 750 km northwest of Brisbane, residents in vulnerable areas were instructed to evacuate to higher ground on Monday afternoon.
As of Tuesday, over 300 homes remained without power in the town of around 3,000 residents, which has been isolated due to flooding.
Authorities reported that three individuals were rescued from floodwaters in Clermont overnight.
Two men were retrieved by swift water rescue teams around 2:40 a.m. local time after finding themselves stranded on the rooftop of their car in floodwaters, while a third individual was saved from the roof of another vehicle a few hours later.
In another incident, two others managed to reach safety after also being stranded on a vehicle roof near Clermont on Monday night.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji made landfall on Queensland's northeastern coast on Sunday morning, bringing with it damaging winds and torrential rain, and is currently advancing westward across the state.
Queensland's premier, David Crisafulli, informed reporters on Monday that communities in western Queensland, which have already received substantial rainfall earlier this month, should remain vigilant as additional rain could lead to severe consequences, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Crisafulli mentioned that while there have been no reported fatalities, nearly 50,000 livestock are either missing or presumed dead due to the floods.