Queensland floods ‘incredible’ devastation, says state prime minister

Floods in Australia have inflicted an “incredible” devastation in the communities of Northern Queensland, said state prime minister, despite the fact that conditions are adjusting faster than expected.

Thousands of residents who evacuated their homes will return on Tuesday, but it is feared that hundreds of homes and businesses have flooded.

“It is a disaster that will prove the resolution of people,” said Prime Minister David Crisafulli to ABC.

Parts of the region have been mistreated by almost 2 m (6.5 feet) of rain since Saturday, which caused flooding and ongoing warnings, but the prime minister said that climatic conditions had been “really friendly” in the last hours.

In Townsville, the locals woke up with gray skies but only spray, and the news that predicts the flood levels did not materialize. It was a marked contrast with the intense downpours that have mistreated the region in recent days.

Flexion conditions mean that the people who had been advised to leave six Townsville suburbs may have “dodged a bullet,” said Prime Minister, after the previous forecasts suggested that up to 1,700 homes were in danger.

But further north in the state, poor communications and damaged roads are making it difficult to evaluate the scope of damage to the cities of Ingham and Cardwell.

“The more information appears, the more there seems to be a real devastation,” said Crisafulli, who grew up in Ingham.

“I have seen images of water in business that ever in my wildest dreams thought I would see water in the stores there in the upper part of the city,” he said.

According to the State Energy Supplier, more than 8,000 properties remain without energy, and the partial collapse of a critical road continues to hinder efforts to help some of the most affected areas.

Crisafulli said the recovery effort “would take some time.”