Thousands of Australians have seen their Christmas travel plans thrown into chaos after a major airport was forced to close due to flooding not seen in 45 years.
Cairns Airport has been closed for the second time in four days after more than 600mm of rain fell in far north Queensland in the wake of ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper.
The popular holiday destination is now 'an island' with roads cut off by floods and hundreds of residents and tourists forced to evacuate, with some becoming trapped in the process.
Many hotels in Cairns are being used as evacuation centers for people displaced by flooding.
It has also led to a shortage of drinking water, with residents urged to conserve water where possible.
Cairns Airport will remain closed on Monday morning and the situation will be assessed later that day.
It will likely remain closed. More heavy rain of up to 300mm is forecast to drench the city on Monday before the deluge subsides.
Cairns Airport was forced to close due to severe flooding, with extraordinary footage showing multiple planes on the runway submerged in a rising tide
Major flooding at the airport is expected to exceed the 1977 flood level of 3.8 meters on Monday afternoon.
The Barron River basin has received 1.5 meters of rain in five days.
Heavy, locally intense rainfall with dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is forecast north of Cairns, along with rainfall totals of 300mm per six hours.
Port Douglas, Wujal Wujal, Daintree Village and Cooktown is among the towns in the line of fire.
Mayor Terry James has warned the Cairns region could run out of water if infrastructure blockages are not resolved and residents do not conserve water.
“We currently have about 30 hours left, so we are urging people to top up their water while they can,” he said last night.
According to the municipality, water inlet pipes at the treatment plant
“Cairns is like an island,” Mark Olsen, CEO of Tropical Far North Queensland Tourism, told the Today show.
'Yesterday was certainly a day for the history books, with record rainfall across the catchment.
'Our focus at the moment is keeping the community safe – from Cairns we cannot travel north to our friends in the Douglas Shire, our northern beaches are cut off, we are cut off on the highway south and both tracks to the plateaus are also currently cut off.”
The Palmerston Highway in far north Queensland has split in two after heavy rain and flooding from ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper.
Emergency services carried out more than 250 assisted rescue operations on Sunday night
Nine people trapped on the roof of the hospital in Wujal Wujal are still stranded.
The Wujal Wujal Council has issued an urgent plea after a crocodile was spotted at the bridge crossing
“Parents, keep your children away,” the message read.
“There are children swimming nearby.”
Mr Olsen has called for more help from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Queensland Premier Steven Miles.
'We really need to get out there and assess the situation and it will take a few days to really understand it, so people who have bookings for Christmas and New Year, just give us a few days to understand where we stand. bee.'
Further south, Ingham also monitors flooding, with a crocodile swimming in a swollen drain in the center of the town.