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Extreme weather in Far North Queensland has led to a disaster being declared in the area from Cairns to Townsville.

With a massive quantity of rain falling on the region, Queensland’s north west is suffering through the worst flooding since 2009. With more rain on the way, local transport has been halted leaving visitors to the region stranded, and with few opportunities to enjoy local attractions.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk travelled to the region on Sunday to assess the damage, with clean up and repair bill likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Premier Palaszczuk told reporters during here visit “I don’t think people in the southeast realise how much impact this flood has had on this region and the surrounding communities.”

The Premier said around a third of all the state’s local government areas had been disaster declared as a direct result of the flooding, with the town of Ingham, north of Townsville, still cut in half by floodwaters on Sunday afternoon.

Premier Palaszczuk the Queensland Government would work to make disaster funding available to individuals and local governments.

Floodwaters are also leading to increased encounters with dangerous wildlife - with bull sharks, crocodiles, spiders and snakes spotted in large numbers.

Four days of torrential rain broke river banks, covered pastureland and cut off nearby towns. Now a new danger looms. Toby Millyard, crocodile researcher at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast, said the conditions are ideal for roaming crocodiles.

Millyard said the reptiles were known to use flood waters in the region to travel to different areas and search for food, telling Reuters “some crocodiles love it when it rains and they use the water’s currents to travel - they’re very smart animals

“But they’re very easy to stay away from. As long as you’re not in the water or standing by the edge, then you should be fine.”

Image: Floods in Ingham, courtesy of Hinchinbrook Shire Council.

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