Aussie bloke's incredible act during Queensland floods
Several people remain trapped as dangerous floodwaters rip through the state's far north.
A “good Aussie bloke” has been labelled a “legend” after he casually chopped up a large fallen tree blocking cars on a bridge crossing in far North Queensland as dangerous flooding continues to tear through the state.
Footage posted on Sunday shows the muscular man — who some viewers described as “a unit” — slicing the fallen tree into three pieces with a chainsaw. The “hero” can be seen wearing nothing but shorts and a baseball cap as floodwater rushes past his knees and heavy rain falls.
“Opening up the Miallo bridge crossing after flooding caused by Cyclone Jasper,” the TikTok video was captioned. “Sporting all the safety equipment,” he joked, adding a winking emoji. “Wanted to get the tree done before any crocodiles found their way to me. [At]least I had my trusty Stihl chainsaw!”
The clip has since been viewed more than 400,000 times, with numerous people commenting on how "amazing" it was that Billy managed to slice through the tree like butter. “Did he even flinch?” one stunned woman said. “That’s a tough Queenslander there,” another admitted. “Tell me you’re in Australia without telling me you’re in Australia,” another joked.
While many admired the man’s act, a few others urged him to leave the cyclone clean-up to emergency services. Other footage online shows the extent of the damage caused by the extreme weather event, including a group of people rescuing a calf from the Barron River by pulling it up over the side of a bridge.
Residents have been warned to keep an eye out for distressed animals, as well as potentially deadly creatures that could wash up. Amid warnings, Queensland's Department of Environment confirmed to Yahoo that one crocodile had been apprehended in flood waters north of Townsville.
Group including child trapped on hospital roof
The Australian Defence Force is sending more troops and emergency services will be airlifted to Cairns on Monday after it was revealed a child is among a group of nine people stranded on the roof of a remote hospital. There are another five people stuck on the roof of their homes in Degarra, north of Port Douglas.
Freshly-appointed Queensland Premier Steven Miles this morning said he was “most concerned” about the nine people who have spent the night on the Wujal Wujal clinic. The town of Wujal Wujal has been ordered to evacuate. “Everything is being done to rescue them, unfortunately the rain is so heavy and the cloud so low, we can’t get aerial support in and the roads are blocked,” he told Today. He said his office have been in contact with them over the phone.
The state has pulled “every single boat they could find” to conduct the almost 300 rescues made overnight in and around Cairns. “So everyone from the yacht club to the navy, to SES, to even the surf lifesavers,” Mr Miles said, adding life-long Cairns residents had told him they have “never seen anything like this [storm]”.
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Residents on alert as more rain on the way
Some areas were hit by almost one metre of rain overnight, with more falls to come this week. There are major flood warnings for the Barron, Herbert, Murray, Mulgrave and Daintree Rivers.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned on Monday of “widespread flooding” due to “heavy, locally intense rainfall with dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding occurring or possible between the Daintree and Cape Flattery”, bringing “6-hourly rainfall totals up to 300mm”.
Meteorologist Angus Hines said the situation is “dynamic and evolving” and urged locals to stay updated over the next few days. “The Daintree River here in the far north has experienced record flooding and is still at the major flood level,” he added, explaining that with numerous other rivers in the area at minor to moderate flooding, heavy rainfall during a high tide on Monday afternoon could create a bigger problem.
“Floodwaters cannot drain as effectively as they can at other times and that can prolong or even worsen the flooding impacts so this afternoon is a key time of significance. Across the rest of North Queensland we have a wide array of flood watches and there could be some flooding through any or all of these areas over the course of the next couple of days.”
with NCA NewsWire and AAP
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