SYDNEY: A person died on Sunday in Australia’s North Queensland state in heavy flooding, authorities said, calling on thousands of people to move to higher land due to heavy rain.
The Queensland authorities said there were major floods underway in the coast of Hinchinbrook Shire, a locality of about 11,000 people located about 500 km (310 miles) north of the State Capital Brisbane. Several suburbs in the nearby town of Townsville were also affected, the authorities said.
North Queensland has large zinc reserves as well as larger deposits of silver, lead, copper and iron ore, with Townsville an important treatment center for the region’s basic metals. In 2019, serious flooding in the area of lead and zinc concentrate rail shipments and damaged thousands of properties.
“Residents of low -lying areas should collect their evacuation sets and move to a safe place on higher soil. This situation may pose a threat to life and property,” said regional emergency administration authorities on Sunday morning.
The flood was triggered by heavy rain from a low-pressure system rich in tropical moisture, Australia’s weather forecast said on its website, adding that 24-hour rainfall potals were probably up to 300 mm (11.8 inches).
“The potential for heavy, local intense rainfall and harmful winds can continue in the beginning of next week subject to the strength and location of the trough and low,” it said.
Frequent floods have hit Australia’s East in recent years, including “Once in a Century” floods that flooded the nearby northern territory in January 2023 during a multi-year La Nina weather event.
