Townsville residents now have more to worry about than the continually rising flood waters, as sightings of massive crocodiles have been reported throughout the city.
As thousands of people prepare for the worst amid the one-in-100-year downpour in north Queensland, urgent warnings have been sent out alerting locals to be wary of dangerous animals lurking in the area.
Several residents have taken to social media over the past few days, sharing shocking images of unwelcome visitors to their homes which had been flushed into the city from the overflowing Ross River.
One woman, from Mundingburra, shared a frightening photograph on Facebook which showed a huge crocodile seemingly making its way up her father’s elevated driveway, as it emerged from the murky flood water.
“Croc out the front of my dad’s place in Mundingburra, O’Reilly Street, Ross River Road end. Cannot stress enough to stay out of the water,” Erin Hahn wrote alongside the almost unbelievable snap.
The chilling photo has since been shared over 15,000 times with thousands more tagging their friends and relatives in hopes they will take on the advice.
“Anything is possible during floods – Goodna also had bull sharks in the main street,” one person commented.
“This guy can move faster than you can blink!” another added.
While a third simply said: “Oh my god that’s freaky. Wow just wow”.
Erin wasn’t the only one to spot a croc lurking not far from residential areas though, as Twitter user Chris Barlett shared a snap of a crocodile seeking refuge on a tree hanging over the river.
“Crocodiles are climbing trees to escape Townsville floodwaters,” he wrote on the post.
Meanwhile others have shared footage of their affected streets, which now more closely resemble rivers. Marc Lindsay took to Twitter on Monday morning to update family and friends of his situation with a short clip showing the rising flood water only metres from houses.
“Townsville flood. Live to fight another day. Barely got a wink of sleep last night,” he wrote on the post. “The water came right up to the edge of the foundation, but no water under the house. Reports of crocodiles in the area, but we’re okay for now.”
While there have been widespread downpours throughout north Queensland, the city of Townsville, which usually avoids mass rainfall, has received the brunt of the rain, with thousands of homes at risk of going under.
The Bureau of Meteorology Queensland recorded a shocking 506mm of rain at Ingham Pump Station from 9am on Saturday to 5am on Sunday.
While Halifax, around 130km north of Townsville, received 415mm, Cardwell Gap 309mm and South Mission Beach 217mm, during the same time period.
On Monday morning BoM issued a severe weather warning for damaging, locally destructive winds and heavy rainfall.
Intense rainfall and significant flash flooding was predicted between Ingham and Bowen with possibilities it could extend further south.
“For the remainder of today, further heavy rainfall with six-hourly rainfall totals between 150mm to 200mm are likely,” the government agency wrote on its website.
“Concentrated areas of intense rainfall with totals up to 300mm possible, particularly with bands of thunderstorms. Creek and river catchments are already saturated and will therefore respond extremely rapidly to any rainfall. Landslides have been reported with this event and will continue to be possible in vulnerable areas that have experienced significant rainfall.”
The latest message follows an urgent warning from BoM Queensland on Sunday night with concerns there could be serious risks to life and property throughout the evening.
“I’ve got a message for the people in the north of our state about the Ross River catchment, we’ve issued a warning tonight at 6.10pm eastern standard time and I need to draw your attention to the important message that’s in this warning,” State Manager Bruce Gunn explained.
“You can expect high velocity flows and unprecedented areas of flooding to occur in the Ross River catchment. It could change continuously and unpredictably over the course of this evening into tomorrow morning.
“So I am pleading with people in the area to please pay attention to all of the emergency messages from Townsville City Council and Queensland Police and Queensland fire and emergency services.”