Cairns floods: Most Aussie moment ever in video of shirtless, bearded man leaning on a gate surrounded by rushing floodwaters waving off rescuers: ‘Yeah mate, all good’
A man floating in the rough waters of Far North Queensland has impressed Australians with his relaxed attitude to the chaos around him.
Gavin Dear from Helenvale, along with two other men, helped rescue 18 stranded residents of his community.
While filming the rescue mission, he came across “Jonesy,” a shirtless, gray-haired man covered in tattoos, clinging to a fence in the rushing water.
In a clip shared on Facebook, a helicopter hovered over fast-moving water near the Lions Den Hotel, just north of Rossville, before the camera landed on the stranded man.
“Jonesy, are you okay?” asked a voice behind the camera.
“Yeah buddy. All good,” Jonesy responded before expressing concern about others in danger nearby.
More than two meters of rain fell around Cooktown and Rossville last week.
Hundreds of social media users flocked to the comments section to express their praise for the Aussie Larrikin.
“There's no way this could be any more Far North Queensland,” said one.
“I think this was the most Australian moment since the very first expression of G'day,” wrote another.
'Surrounded by total chaos, rubbish deep in the floodwaters, helicopter evacuation in the background, worried about the other guys and a dog 'yeah, I'm fine'.
While others labeled the man 'a bloody legend'.
An Aussie man known as 'Jonesy' has captured the hearts of Aussies after footage emerged of him casually reacting to being stuck in water in Far North Queensland
When asked by rescuers if he was okay, Jonesy said he was fine.
Mr Dear said another local resident also deserved commendation after helping more than a dozen evacuees from the Lions Den Hotel on Sunday.
'I have to say this guy is the real hero of the story. His name is Magoo,” Mr Dear told ABC Radio.
“He made sixteen trips and landed on that roof in the pouring rain, where no other helicopter pilot would fly.
'He saved all those people. While we were rescuing those other guys, he was driving people back and forth.”
Up to 12 locations in Far North Queensland received record amounts of rainfall, with some areas receiving a year's worth of rain in one day.
Up to 12 locations in Far North Queensland received record amounts of rainfall, with some areas receiving a year's worth of rain in one day
The town of Wujal Wujal was inundated with floodwaters from Tropical Cyclone Jasper
A dog is rescued from the water in flood-ravaged Far North Queensland
Mossman South, an hour northwest of Cairns, received 1,935mm of rain in five days, while Black Mountain near Cooktown recorded 2,189mm.
Weather conditions will deteriorate as ex-Cyclone Jasper moves north.
Up to 14,000 people in 40 communities were still without power on Monday.
A severe weather warning remains in force for Port Douglas, Daintree Village, Wujal Wujal, Cooktown and Hope Vale. A flood warning remains in force for the Mossman, Murray, Herbert, Tully, Johnstone and Mulgrave rivers.
Residents have been warned to be on the lookout for crocodiles that have washed up on residential streets in the aftermath of the cyclone.
Emergency services will focus their efforts on delivering food, fresh water and medicine to dozens of isolated communities in far north Queensland.