WHILE the Whitsundays have escaped the awful flooding experienced further north, in places like Ingham and Townsville, it has certainly been a wet January and February.
The Bruce Highway has been closed in several places, due to water on the road, flights have been grounded, and pupils have been cut off from their schools.
According to www.meteorology.com.au/, the Whitsundays wettest day so far this year was February 5, with 322.2 mm of rain falling on that day.
And just when everyone thought things were going to start drying out, the region copped a second deluge.
The Burdekin region, immediately north of the Whitsundays, was hit hard with some homes and businesses really suffering.
Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox MP said the people of Dawson were ‘no strangers to natural disasters’ having endured cyclones, fires and floods.
“But they are also extremely resilient, coming together in the face of adversity,” he said.
“At first opportunity, when flooding subsided, I jumped in the 4WD and headed north, visiting towns in the Burdekin region including Home Hill, Ayr and Giru, and also Gumlu in the north of the Whitsundays.
“Some areas were lucky to only have little to no flood water on their property, but some homes and businesses copped the worse, even though they were well prepared.
“Speaking with the locals and small business owners, I was blown away by their strength of character, with their efforts now turned towards the clean-up process.”
An unwelcome aspect of heavy rains is the appearance of more snakes, as they try to avoid the water by seeking out warm, dry places.
The Queensland Ambulance Service has seen an increase in snakebites around Queensland, including two in the Whitsundays.
On Sunday, February 9, a female in her 40s reportedly sustained a snake bite to the foot at a private address in Preston, at 7.26pm.
She was transported by road to Proserpine Hospital, before being airlifted to Mackay Base Hospital in a potentially life-threatening condition.
And in the early hours of Friday, February 7, paramedics transported a male patient in a stable condition to Proserpine Hospital, following a reported snakebite on Shute Harbour Road, Cannonvale, at 12.34am.
QAS issued the following warning:
‘If someone does see a snake in or around their house, we would advise them to not attempt to capture or kill the snake and contact an authorised snake catcher.
‘And if someone is bitten by a snake, we always advise them to call Triple-Zero (000) immediately, keep the patient calm, do not allow them to move around and apply a pressure bandage if available.’
To keep up-to-date on road closure information visit council’s Whitsunday Disaster Dashboard http://disaster.whitsundayrc.qld.gov.au.
