Travellers to Queensland’s Cape York area are being warned of the risk of flooded rivers and water damaged roads as an unseasonal rain bomb hits the area.
The very late wet season deluge will fall on ground already saturated by recent rain that led to a vehicle being swept off the Archer River causeway last week, and left travellers trapped by the Wenlock and Pascoe rivers.
A grader working on the Peninsula Developmental Rd ahead of the travel season even got bogged to its axles.
The Cairns Post reports that campers have been advised to hit pause on their bucket list trip to the Tip until river levels subside and roads dry out.
Cook Shire Mayor Peter Scott pleaded with travellers in the interest of safety to delay northbound travel until rain eases.
“Anybody with half a brain would be saying we might delay our trip for a little while,” he said. “There is a low forming and that could mean big rain … we have had people up here in Lockhart stuck and that could well happen again.”
He told the Cairns Post the conditions were looking ‘dicey’
Travellers on the Peninsula Development Road last month wait at the Archer River for the water level to drop. PIC: Supplied / Cairns Post
“The current weather forecast is not looking good at all for travelling on dirt roads,” Mr Scott said. “We love tourists but safety is paramount.”
In Weipa a rainfall average of 106.7mm was smashed in April when 200.8mm was collected in the gauge.
While in Coen a total of 217.6mm last month was almost four times the April average.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Laura Boekel told the Cairns Post that more unseasonal rain was predicted for the Cape.
“Absolutely it’s unseasonal, typically in May is when we see a return to dry … in Weipa, we have observations since 1914, and the mean rainfall for May is 15.7mm,” she said. “Then, if we look at the forecast for Weipa on Tuesday we have 10-25mm, already we are seeing that monthly rainfall in one day … to see it in May is quite unusual.”
• Had you been planning to head up to Cape York in the near future? Have the rains changed your plans? Comment below.
It takes a lot to bog a grader but using those tyres would be useless in that situation.
“It’s a far far grader thing”.