Three British tourists had to be rescued from the roof of their campervan after an overnight deluge meant they woke up to be surrounded by crocodile-infested floodwaters.
The trio had parked up at the Green Patch picnic area just south of Cairns area in far north Queensland, pretty much next to a crocodile warning sign.
Although it was dry when they retired for the night, it was anything but when they pulled back their curtains this morning. The alarm was raised and swift water rescue teams were dispatched at 6am today.
The ABC reports that Queensland Fire and Rescue officer Guy Bulmer was the first on the scene.
“The water levels were up at the window level of the vehicle and there were three English backpackers on the roof,” Mr Bulmer said. “There was a croc sign almost right next to the vehicle, so it was good they decided not to try and self-evacuate from the vehicle with water levels rising rapidly — and it had some flow.”
He said there could easily have been crocodiles in the floodwaters or other obstacles that could have caused injury.
There has been falls of up to 350 millimetres across the far north over the past 24 hours.
Senior Constable Heidi Marek from Cairns Police told the ABC that motorists had to learn to drive to the conditions after two accidents on the Kuranda Range Road, north of Cairns.
“We’ve also had a tree come down on the Gillies Highway so we’re asking drivers to check road conditions before they set off on their trip,” Senior Constable Marek said.
i holpe the rescue people made sure all the crocs were ok.