A north-east woman has found herself in the midst of a “disaster zone”, with her new home in Australia plagued by floods.
While the north of Scotland battles winter chaos, parts of North Queensland have been battered by days of torrential monsoonal rains.
Some communities, such as Townsville are under water, with many residents evacuated and at least two deaths reported.
There have also been serious warnings about the dangers posed by giant crocodiles and snakes in the streets.
The Australian Defence Force has delivered 70,000 sandbags, deployed amphibious cargo vehicles and helped rescue residents from rooftops after some areas received a year’s worth of rainfall in a week.
And as local authorities decided on Sunday night to fully open the floodgates of the town’s Ross River Dam, they warned people that crocodiles and snakes may now be swimming past their front doors as a result.
The Townsville floods have claimed their first victims, 2 men, who went missing after being swept away early yesterday. Their bodies were found in a storm drain as floodwaters began to recede. Locals assessed the damage to so many homes and businesses. @JoelDry7 #7News pic.twitter.com/AwIEpokHOc
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) February 5, 2019
Aberdeen-born Tracey Robertson, 38, lives with her partner Kevin and children Lewis, 9, Lilly, 7, and Liam, 6, in Townsville – which has been declared a “disaster zone”.
She moved to Australia ten years ago, after briefly spending time in the country on a working holiday visa.
Ms Robertson said: “The night that the floodgates opened was a very anxious one for lots of people.
“During the night we heard reports of people in one area that had been cut-off due to floods, with the water was rising due to the influx from the dam.
“They were on the roofs of their houses, though thankfully they were rescued.
“By the morning we were being told that some of evacuation centres around Townsville were full and the council were opening new ones.”
Ms Robertson said the threat posed by the local wildlife is all too real for residents of communities in Queensland.
“The river near me has salt water crocodiles in it and the sea just 10 minutes up the road often has sittings of salt water crocodiles,” she said.
“Snakes are also very common in Townsville and are in the water searching for a dry safe place.”
Ms Robertson said her children have found something positive amidst the chaos – as they have been celebrating the arrival of a family of tadpoles in their water-ridden driveway.
Emergency services in Townsville are, however, struggling to cope with demand from Queensland locals in danger.
Around 20,000 homes are still without power.
Ms Robertson, who used to be a support worker in Aberdeen, said that despite the conditions, the community had been banding together where possible.
She said: “After the flooding, people were donating clothing, towels and food to the shelters in such volumes that by 9am the shelters were turning away donations as they had no where to store them.
“And once we are told by the government that it is safe to do so I will be going around the local area to see who needs any help.
“I already have a large pile of clothing and toys to donate to any of the hundreds of families in Townsville who have lost everything.
“I’ve been checking frequently on friends, in particular two elderly people, to make sure their properties were not at risk of flooding and that they had power and food.”
There's been record breaking rainfall in #Townsville, Australia- over 1 meter of rain in a week! Over 20,000 home are at risk of being flooded and the army has been deployed to the area. More rain to come in the next few days, but easing from midweek ?️ pic.twitter.com/Eb3kAZVOX1
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 4, 2019
Ms Robertson and her family continue to receive severe weather warnings from the bureau of meteorology, predicting heavy rainfall and damaging winds.
The 38-year-old, who has been trying to keep in contact with her family in Aberdeen and provide them with updates, said it would take Townsville “months” to recover from its flooding ordeal.
