Stranded residents sought shelter on the roof of a hospital as flash floods swept northeastern Australia on Monday, cutting through roads and sending crocodiles into towns.
Rescue teams evacuated more than 200 people overnight, police said, and military helicopters were sent to help flooded areas cut off by the floods.
The state of Queensland was hit by devastating winds and driving rain after Tropical Cyclone Jasper made landfall late last week.
With more rain expected on Monday, Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick said the looming disaster would have a “billion-dollar impact” on the state.
Nine people, including a seven-year-old patient, crowded together on the roof of a hospital in the predominantly Aboriginal settlement of Wujal Wujal for safety reasons.
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“We know these people are desperate now,” said Kiley Hanslow, executive director of the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council.
“The patient is a 7-year-old boy. They need to get him off the roof and warm him back up,” she told national broadcaster ABC.
Hanslow said the town of 300 people was a “sea of dirty water and mud.”
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“There are crocodiles swimming around in this water now,” she added.
Crocodiles were also spotted lurking in the floodwaters in the rural town of Ingham, said local politician Nick Dametto.
The tourist hub of Cairns has been almost completely surrounded by the floods, which have inundated the main roads leading into the city of 150,000 people.
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Flooding washed over the wings of planes parked at Cairns International Airport on Sunday.
“This level of rainfall is next,” Queensland Premier Steven Miles told reporters on Monday.
“We literally used every boat we could get our hands on in Cairns to evacuate those who could not safely evacuate themselves.”
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