North Queensland floods live updates: Cairns airport closed, crocodiles seen in flood waters

Crocodiles spotted in Queensland floodwaters

A crocodile has been spotted in floodwaters in the centre of Ingham, a rural town about 110km north of Townsville in Queensland:

Chief executive of the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal shire council, Kylie Hanslow, also told the ABC earlier that crocodiles had been spotted in floodwaters:

There’s also crocodiles swimming around in the water now, because the crocs want to find the nice calm water rather than the rushing river water.

Updated at 18.26 EST

Key events

Steven Miles said intense rainfall is expected to continue – while it has eased in some locations, there is an ongoing risk of showers and storms during the day which may impact river levels and flooding.

He said the disaster management committee has just met with the affected mayors, and will meet again this afternoon.

Miles also said clean water is a concern across “many” flood-affected communities, particularly Cairns:

There will be a number of key milestones throughout the morning where we will be able to determine how long Cairns has clean water for, and it remains critically important that those reliant on the Cairns water supply conserve water as much as they possibly can.

Queensland premier Steven Miles said the entire town of Wujal Wujal would need to be evacuated.

He confirmed the nine people trapped on a roof – including one seven-year-old boy – have been moved to another location:

That group of people who are trapped on the roof of the hospital in Wujal Wujal have been able to safely move to another location, but it now appears likely that we will need to evacuate the entire town of Wujal Wujal.

Agencies are working across government and across levels of government to work out how to do that, to safely get the community of Wujal Wujal to Cooktown, to the PCYC there.

Emergency personnel are giving an update on the Far North Queensland floods, from the QFES headquarters.

They acknowledged it has been a “tough night” for those impacted:

We have heroes on the ground who have been out all night. We deployed literally every boat we could get our hands on in Cairns to evacuate those who couldn’t safely evacuate themselves. And more help is on the way.

The Euramo Hotel in Far North Queensland yesterday “rebranded” as the Euramo Yacht Club, welcoming 18 boats up to its doors, which were consumed with floodwaters.

Publican Ollie Muzic and manager Tish Ottone spoke to ABC News earlier this morning and said the water levels had dropped by 300mm overnight, and they hadn’t seen anything like this in the two year’s since buying the pub:

It’s been something that they do every time we have a flood. It’s tradition [to go to] the Euramo Hotel in a boat or a tractor. We had no tractors turn up yesterday, but the water level was higher than it’s ever been before.

We had heard that there is a few people locally that have lost their homes, and their home is covered in water and mud now, which we are absolutely gutted for them.

Qld floods: emergency services racing to rescue people trapped on clinic roof

State Disaster Coordinator Shane Chelepy has told reporters that teams are providing support to those trapped on a roof in the Aboriginal town of Wujal Wujal.

Wujal Wujal locals have climbed on top of the town’s health clinic to escape flood waters that have inundated buildings and vehicles. Photograph: supplied to Matt Nicholls, editor Cape York Weekly

As we mentioned earlier, nine people – including a seven-year-old boy – are trapped on the roof of the Wujal Wujal clinic. Emergency crews have been unable to get to them because of low-lying cloud, intense rainfall and flooding.

Chelepy says:

We are providing support to those people now.

The safest place for those people right now is on the roof of that hospital until we can get emergency services in there.

– with AAP

Updated at 18.46 EST

Qld floods: special swift-water rescuers respond to more than 370 calls for help

The Queensland SES has responded to more than 1,000 calls for assistance in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Fire and Rescue swift-water rescuers have responded to more than 370 callouts during that time.

In a post to X/Twitter, QFES says crews remain “strategically positioned to ensure they are able to continue to respond”.

Updated at 18.38 EST

Bruce Lehrmann defamation case enters final week

Lisa Wilkinson’s colleagues at Ten, including veteran media executive Peter Meakin, will give evidence today as the final week of the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial begins.

Former Liberal party staffer Bruce Lehrmann arrives at the federal court in Sydney, as the final week of a defamation case he has brought against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson begins. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

You can follow the trial on our separate live blog with Amanda Meade:

Updated at 18.34 EST

Qld floods: Cairns airport will not reopen today, all flights cancelled

A notice on the Cairns Airport website confirms operations will not recommence today.

Earlier, Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker confirmed they could now access the runway, but he says a lot of debris has to be removed and the runway will have to be cleaned.

The notice reads:

The flooding on the aerodrome has subsided. However, given our proximity to the Barron River, there is significant debris that needs to be removed and cleaned. We will then be in a position to assess our runway infrastructure, to determine its serviceability. This will take some time. As such, we can confirm that operations will not recommence at Cairns Airport today. Please do not travel to the airport today.

All flights scheduled for today have been cancelled or delayed. Please contact your airline directly for information about specific flights.

We also wish to reiterate that our domestic and international terminals, including the car parks, have not been adversely impacted.

Updated at 18.32 EST

ABC’s Patricia Karvelas ‘excited’ to host Q+A in 2024

ABC News has announced Patricia Karvelas will host Q+A in 2024.

She will continue to present RN Breakfast three or five days a week, a statement says, depending on the Q+A schedule.

ABC Radio National presenter Patricia Karvelas has been announced as the new host of Q+A. Photograph: Jackson Gallagher/The Guardian

Karvelas says:

Q+A is the town hall. It’s the only program bringing together a range of guests to debate the big issues where ordinary people – not journalists or insiders – can come along and ask questions of powerful people.

I thrive on big and difficult conversations and I’m excited and privileged to take on the role of host of this iconic ABC program in 2024.

A show like Q+A should constantly be evolving to meet the needs of Australians and that’s what I’m committed to doing.

Q+A returns on Monday, 19 February.

Updated at 18.22 EST

Crocodiles spotted in Queensland floodwaters

A crocodile has been spotted in floodwaters in the centre of Ingham, a rural town about 110km north of Townsville in Queensland:

Chief executive of the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal shire council, Kylie Hanslow, also told the ABC earlier that crocodiles had been spotted in floodwaters:

There’s also crocodiles swimming around in the water now, because the crocs want to find the nice calm water rather than the rushing river water.

Updated at 18.26 EST

Qld floods: Even homes on higher ground in Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire hard hit

Desmond Tayley, deputy mayor of the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council, says the community is completely cut off from the north and the south by road.

The remote Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal in north Queensland has been inundated by floodwater after days of rain. Photograph: Kylie Hanslow

He says even homes and buildings on higher ground have been affected by flood waters, including his own home. On Facebook he writes:

Even the places in high area[s] have been flooded, even my place which I thought was pretty safe but I was wrong … Please spare a thought and prayer for my mob.

Updated at 18.08 EST