More people are set to be evacuated from Australia’s flood-hit regions as another cyclone threat looms.
Far north Queensland is bracing for a second natural disaster in about a month while flooding has forced people to flee their homes in the Northern Territory.
Heavy rainfall is forecast in the vicinity of a slow moving tropical low close to Elliott in central NT, with flash flooding set to develop.
There is a general flood warning for the NT’s Victoria River catchment after almost 100 people were evacuated and more evacuations are set to come.
“We’ve seen significant river rises throughout these areas that have in some places cut off roads and access routes,” Miriam Bradbury from the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“A number of communities have been evacuated or will be evacuated over the coming days as rain continues to fall.”
Motorists have been stranded, roads cut and people evacuated in the NT with about 40 people from Pigeon Hole, a Bilinara Aboriginal Land Trust settlement, relocated while another 50 at nearby Daguragu left for Kalkarindji.
Pigeon Hole could be flooded for up to a week.
“Toward Saturday night we will see some particularly heavy rainfall starting to develop to the south of Katherine,” Bradbury said.
“That heavy rainfall over the Victoria River catchment is set to cause further significant river rises over the coming days.”
The low is expected to push toward the Western Australia border, bringing wind and rain to northern parts of the Kimberley.
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There have been widespread falls of up to 150mm in the NT.
There are flood watches in place for large parts of the NT including the Top End along with areas in far north Queensland.
“This is telling us that further river rises and flooding impacts are anticipated over the coming days, so it is essential to keep on top of the latest forecasts and warnings by the bureau,” Bradbury said.
Heavy rainfall is also set for parts of the Cape in the far north as residents prepare for Cyclone Kirrily, set to form in the Coral Sea by Sunday.
Kirrily is at risk of tracking back and hitting the Queensland coast mid-next week, possibly as a category 3 cyclone producing winds of up to 165km/h.
Forecasts have the area from Townsville to Rockhampton under threat.
