After Up To Two Feet Of Rain In Queensland, Multiple Communities May Be Cut Off For Weeks Or Months
Ashleigh Brieffies is standing on the front steps of her home in central Queensland on Monday afternoon as knee-deep water sweeps over the grounds of her property. “If it comes up another 2ft we’ll probably be underwater,” says Brieffies, who lives in Clermont. “I think we’ll be looking for a boat or a chopper.”
The showhorse owner and cattle breeder and her veterinarian husband, Brendan, are not the only ones isolated and preparing for the worst as ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji unleashes torrential rain across swathes of north and central Queensland. Nor are they the only ones calling for a helicopter. More than a year’s rain fell in one week in some places, with stranded communities facing months of isolation.
EDIT
Dotted across the state, other towns are being marooned by flood waters and landslips. The Mackay mayor, Greg Williamson, says the town of Eungella, which sits at the top of an escarpment in the ranges inland from the coastal city, may be cut off for months to come. He says some localities within his shire received up to 700mm of rain in a 48-hour period. “That’s a serious amount of rain and it’s brought with it some flash flooding,” he says. The mayor says the road up to Eungulla is “seriously damaged” and the back road out “now impassable”.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jan/12/rain-central-queensland-flooding-could-isolate-some-communities-for-months