AUSTRALIA-DROUGHT TO FLOODS FARMERS WORSE NIGHTMARE.
Earlier this week, parts of Queensland’s north and central coasts had more rain in two days than in an average February thanks to tropical cyclone Ellie which formed over the weekend and was later downgraded to a low depression on Monday.
Ingham, just north of Townsville in north Queensland, has amassed about 700mm in just three days, its highest three-day total in 29 years.
Ingham has now had 27 consecutive days of rain, with more than 1400mm - two-thirds of the annual average.
About 60pc of Queensland - the state’s north and north-west - remains rain-soaked, much of it flooded, with rivers flowing strongly into the Gulf and south into the inland Channel Country. (See separate story)
On the Qld coast, emergency services have evacuated homes in and around flood-bound Ingham, north of Townsville.
Almost 3,000 homes have been affected, even though the rain has eased on Thursday - for the time being.
Over the last 24 hours, only Babinda (158 mm) and Crawsford Lookout (112 mm) in the Northern Coasts have managed to pick up over 100 mm of rain, with many locations around Queensland failing to even reach 50 mm of rain.
This is certainly a deserved break to many already flooded areas, but is not set to last long.
The monsoon trough will continue to generate heavy rain and storms over northern parts of the state.
Moreover, there still remains a chance that a low over the Coral Sea could develop into a tropical cyclone in the next few days.
Models have this low moving in a southeast direction bringing more heavy rain to the Central and the Capricornia coast.
