Seven seafarers are lucky to be alive after their boat capsized in rough seas as monsoonal weather brought flooding to rivers across Queensland.
Heavy rain persisted across the state’s drenched far north on Sunday as towns near the Victorian-New South Wales border faced their own flooding concerns.
A monsoon trough over the Cape York Peninsula was expected to expand into the Coral Sea, persisting for several days.
Some western parts of the peninsula had already received 150mm to 200mm, while more than 110mm fell over the outskirts of Cairns in the 24 hours to 9am on Sunday.
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Rough seas caused a seven-metre vessel on a surfing trip to Lady Elliot Island to overturn about 65km north-east of Bundaberg.
A Bundaberg LifeFlight rescue helicopter located the boat’s seven occupants clinging to the hull after their emergency beacon activated about 5pm on Saturday.
The helicopter crew deployed a life raft to assist the stranded mariners until a volunteer Marine Rescue unit picked them up about 7.30pm.
Meanwhile, heavy rains further south in recent days have caused the Paroo River to swell.
The Bureau of Meteorology imposed a major flood warning at Eulo with a peak around 4m possible overnight Sunday and into Monday morning, although no further significant rain was forecast over the next few days.
⛈️Today’s thunderstorm forecast (14/1): Heavy rainfall possible with thunderstorms in the Far North & northwest along with parts of the #NorthTropicalCoast. Localised flash flooding & river level rises are possible. Warnings & forecasts: https://t.co/bXflLCg2Lw and on BOM App. pic.twitter.com/uIDsP88uar
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) January 13, 2024
As the clean-up continued in the area struck by ex-Cyclone Jasper in December, the Queensland premier, Steven Miles, said first responders had been rotated to manage fatigue between disasters.
“If and when the next one strikes, and we know in Queensland the next disaster is always just around the corner, we have to make sure they’re ready,” he said.
Showers and thunderstorms with locally heavy falls were likely to continue on the peninsula until late Sunday into Monday, at which point rain could begin to become more widespread, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
It coincided with abnormally high tides which have caused some minor flooding in Cairns streets.
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2024-01-13 22:09:14
Source from www.theguardian.com
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