Authorities issued a “final alert” to evacuate on Saturday as record-high floods rose quickly. Rescuers used a helicopter to fly residents out of a remote Australian town.
Police in Burketown, a small town in northeastern Australia, reported that 53 vulnerable people had already been flown out over the previous few days by helicopters and other aircraft.
The town, which is typically home to about 200 people, is located 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northwest of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. Murky water lapped at the sides of buildings in the town.
Aerial photographs provided by emergency services showed that the Albert River’s swelling had turned large areas of land surrounding the town into lakes with only the tops of trees visible.
The majority of the town’s homes, according to the police, were flooded.
By Saturday morning, only about 100 people were still living in the Queensland town, and more people were being transported to safety via helicopters, according to state police.
The local Burke Shire Council issued a “final alert” to residents, warning that the water movements are erratic and rising quickly at the moment.
It stated, “We strongly encourage residents to evacuate,” urging them to gather their belongings and informing them there would be no more flights for evacuation after Saturday.
Shannon Moren, a resident who was forced to evacuate, expressed concern about how the flooding would affect livestock to public broadcaster ABC.
Cows in the water
The other day, when I went to check on my parents’ cattle property, I saw cattle swimming for their lives up to their necks in the water, the woman said.
Police also urged everyone who was still inside to leave.
In a statement, Queensland police noted that the elderly and young children should be evacuated first, that the sewerage systems had been “compromised,” and that power would also be turned off.
People should not stay, according to the police.
According to Queensland’s bureau of meteorology, the Albert River has surpassed a record set in March 2011 of 6.78 meters (22 feet) following heavy rains that have since subsided.
The river grew by more than seven meters on Friday, and the forecaster predicted that it would peak on Sunday.
Due to consecutive La Nina climate cycles over the Pacific, Australia has experienced heavy rain for the past two years.
However, as La Nina approaches its end, the country’s bureau of meteorology has forecast drier and warmer weather in the coming months.
More than 20 people lost their lives in an east coast flooding disaster in March of last year, which was brought on by storms in Queensland and New South Wales.
Later in the year, flash floods swept through portions of eastern Australia, causing evacuations in Sydney in July and home destruction in some rural towns in November.
The risk of natural disasters is increasing due to climate change, according to numerous warnings from Australian researchers.