WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Severe monsoon rainfall in Queensland, Australia, has triggered flooding that has resulted in the deaths of two individuals. The torrential rains, which lasted for a week, discharged the total rainfall typically expected over several months in just a few days, impacting small rural communities along the northern coast of the state.
Authorities discovered the body of an 82-year-old woman on Tuesday in a field close to Ingham, a town in North Queensland. This finding followed the earlier tragic death of a 63-year-old woman on Sunday when the rescue boat she was aboard capsized after colliding with a tree.
The extensive rainfall forced hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes, resulted in the collapse of a key bridge, and disrupted drinking water supplies to the areas most affected.
David Crisafulli, the state premier, expressed disbelief over the scale of destruction brought by the week’s rainfall, noting that the north coast of Queensland frequently encounters tropical storms, yet this event was particularly catastrophic. As of Tuesday, several hundred individuals remained in evacuation centers while the waters began to recede; however, it remained unclear how many homes sustained irreparable damage.
As the floodwaters receded, concerns that Townsville, the region’s largest city, might endure similar devastation as experienced in 2019—with damages exceeding 1 billion Australian dollars (approximately $620 million)—began to diminish. However, the state received about 2 meters (approximately 6.5 feet) of rain since Saturday, leading to reports of six months’ worth of rainfall in certain locations. Additionally, an essential highway bridge collapsed over the Ollera Creek near Ingham on Sunday, which is likely to complicate recovery initiatives and cause significant travel disruptions.
On Tuesday, fewer than 10,000 properties were still without electricity, and Crisafulli noted that officials were collaborating with military personnel to provide generators for those affected. A severe thunderstorm warning remained in effect for various regions of the area.
Meteorologists attributed the monsoon rain to two tropical low-pressure systems, one linked to a marine heatwave in the Coral Sea. These atmospheric conditions have been responsible for flooding events in the state previously. The rising ocean temperatures—a consequence of climate change—have likely escalated the occurrence of such natural disasters in Australia.
Conversely, extreme temperatures were recorded on the opposite side of the country, with parts of Western Australia under warnings for severe or extreme heatwaves, as indicated by the Bureau of Meteorology. Their reports classified most states under either heatwave or thunderstorm warnings.
The extreme weather patterns during the summer months in Australia have resulted in deadly bushfires and unprecedented flooding incidents over recent years.
