The 75,000 inhabitants of the Australian city of Rockhampton, located 500 kilometers north of Brisbane, were preparing, Tuesday, January 4, to be cut off, due to flooding "biblical" facing the north-east. The residents piled sandbags around houses and shops to protect the waters of the Fitzroy River, which flows through the city and whose level reached 9.20 meters Tuesday.It should still rise to 9.40 meters on Wednesday or Thursday. Emergency services fear that the water level remains high for at least two weeks, promoting the proliferation of mosquitoes, vectors of disease. They also warned people against poisonous snakes and crocodiles. "It's mating season and they were suddenly removed from their natural environment.
Snakes are very, very nervous right now," said Scott Mahaffey, director of operations for emergency services. According to residents, snakes take refuge in trees and houses looking for a dry place. As for the crocodile, "the problem with them is that it is difficult to spot amid the debris" carried by the waves, "said the head of emergency operations.
A member of the rescue services said he saw "two police officers jump out of the water after spotting a nearby powerful jaw. The riverside, usually pleasant, is now a vast swarms of toads maroon, debris and dirty water from septic tanks. In the city, rescue teams scoured the streets, if necessary by boat or on foot, sometimes with water up to the waist, to put people away.
The people come by boat supplies in packs of beer and pizza pub Pioneer Hotel. The airport, railway tracks and most roads are closed in Rockhampton, but the road remained open Tuesday, contrary to what police said yesterday. Signs warning against flooding are almost entirely submerged. The authorities estimate 200 000 the number of people affected by sudden rising waters that flooded twenty-two rural towns and covered with water to an area as large as France and Germany combined.
Since late November in Australia, ten people in total have died because of heavy rains and floods.
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