Queensland’s premier has vowed to rebuild “more resilient” infrastructure after devastating floods in the state’s north, as Queenslanders were warned not to panic-buy while they are cut off.
David Crisafulli said his government was here “for the long haul” of recovery, in an update on the state’s flooding on Sunday.
“Some good has to come through this heartache … and that some good has to be in the form of: can we replace the infrastructure when it needs to be replaced, to a more resilient standard, and build in a greater ability to deal with what Mother Nature has to throw north and far north Queensland,” he said.
“My team remains focused on the recovery, and we will be there and will be there for the long haul,” he said, adding that government ministers were on the ground in flood-affected areas and he would return to the area soon.
“I want Queenslanders to know the things that we have said will be delivered, will be delivered to every resident,” he said.
“To every resident of north and far north Queensland, we want to say we acknowledge how tough things have been. Lives have been lost, livelihoods have been destroyed. People have seen water in places they never thought possible.”
Torrential rainfall has caused flooding across north and far north Queensland over the past week, cutting power to communities, forcing hundreds to evacuate and requiring the Australian defence force to erect a temporary bridge near Ingham for critical supplies.
Two people have died. The second was an 82-year-old woman, whose body was found in a cane paddock at Bemerside near Ingham on Tuesday morning.
Crisafulli said there were highway closures across the state, including on the Bruce Highway. The road out of Townsville was closed to all traffic to both the north and south, though controlled and limited access south of Townsville for larger vehicles was being arranged.
The deputy premier said the government was working to restock food in areas of the state cut off by floods, and warned against panic buying.
“Far north Queensland has been cut off from road, rail, freight,” Jarrod Bleijie said on Sunday morning. “I just plead with people, particularly in far north Queensland, when shops are resupplied, please only buy what you need, because there is difficulty in getting the supply.”
Bleijie said small aircraft and helicopters were being mobilised to distribute food, and barges loaded up with supplies in Cairns were being sent to the mining town of Weipa on the Cape York peninsula.
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“We are looking at all options to get resupply into these areas that are cut off,” he said.
Crisafulli said the government had spoken with major supermarkets in far north Queensland several months ago about getting extra stock into warehouses in the area in case of flooding.
“They got six weeks of the nonperishables into there,” he said. “There is food in those warehouses. The issue has been the access to the fresh fruit and veggies and the milk and the meats, the stuff that people really need, and that’s why flying the aerial route became the only available option.”
Major flood warnings remained in place for the Herbert River, the Burdekin River, the Haughton River, the Flinders and Cape rivers and the Western River, as of 5am AEST on Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
An extensive flood watch covered parts of the Gulf country and Thompson River, as well as catchments across the western Cape York peninsula.
“This flood watch flags the risk that flooding may build across these catchments in the coming days,” said Miriam Bradbury, senior meteorologist at the BoM.
“Wet weather will continue for much of northern Queensland today, with extensive rain and storms forecast for central and northern Queensland. The north tropical coast will remain the focal point for heavier falls through Sunday, [and] a severe weather warning remains in place from Tully to Ayr.”
