Residents were on roofs in the Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal, in Queensland, and roads have been cut off in the nearby city of Cairns (Picture: Reuters / AFP)
More than 300 people had to be rescued overnight from ‘absolutely devastating’ floodwaters in Australia.
Residents were seen clinging to roofs in the Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal, in Queensland, and major roads have been cut off in the nearby city of Cairns.
Crocodiles were even terrifyingly seen swimming through the fast-flowing water.
More than 600mm of rain has hit the north-east of the country in the past 40 hours, with a further 300mm expected in the aftermath of ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper.
Katarina Carroll, commissioner of Queensland state Police, told reporters: ‘Last night, we had an extraordinarily challenging, challenging evening, rescuing some 300 people.’
She added there were no deaths or serious injuries.
Severe weather warnings for rain are in place in nearby Port Douglas, Daintree, Cooktown, Wujal Wujal and Hope Vale. The winds from the cyclone are not expected to have much effect.
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More than 300 people had to be rescued overnight from the ‘absolutely devastating’ floodwaters (Picture: Reuters)
Crocodiles were even terrifyingly seen swimming through the fast-flowing water (Picture: Anadolu via Getty Images)
An aerial view shows flooding caused by heavy rains and water gushing through the Barron River, in Cairns, Queensland (Picture: Reuters)
Nine adults and a seven-year-old child were however reported to have spent hours overnight on a hospital roof in Wujal Wujal.
Cairns Airport also remains closed and evacuation orders have continued across the region.
Queensland premier Steven Miles said: ‘It’s just an incredible amount of rain, continuously.
‘[Residents] say they’ve never seen anything like it. For someone from far north Queensland to say that, that’s really saying something.
‘To Queenslanders in far north Queensland, we know you’ve had a tough night.
Residents walk near a section of a road that was washed away at the end of Holloways Beach Esplanade in Cairns (Picture: EPA)
Cairns Airport also remains closed and evacuation orders have continued across the region (Picture: Anadolu via Getty Images)
A road split in half along the Palmerston Highway in far north Queensland (Picture: Reuters)
‘I want you to know that every single resource available is being allocated to keeping you safe.
‘We deployed literally every boat we could get our hands on in Cairns to evacuate those who couldn’t safely evacuate themselves, and more help is on the way.’
Some 14,000 homes and businesses were left without power today and there are fears 160,000 people in Cairns could lose drinking water.
Cairns mayor Terry James said: ‘We’ve currently got about 30 hours left so we’re urging people to top up on water while they can.
‘If we can’t unblock it, we will run out of water in the reservoirs by 10am [on Monday].
‘We’re stressing to people to use water for emergency purposes only – as drinking water, to save or preserve life.’
Wujal Wujal Council issued an urgent warning after the crocodiles were spotted in the floodwaters.
It said: ‘Parents, please keep your children away from the area. There are children swimming close by.’
Last year Australia saw some of the worst flooding in living memory when thousands were forced to flee their homes and livestock was killed across Queensland and New South Wales.
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