A saltwater crocodile has been captured after it found its way into a small Queensland town through floodwaters.
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The 2.8 metre croc was spotted by residents swimming in a gushing drain near the main street of Ingham, 120km north of Townsville.
After entertaining locals on December 18, wildlife officers captured the saltie into a holding cage to wait out the deluge.
It comes as parts of Far North Queensland are inundated with major floods following widespread rain in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Jasper.
Cairns Airport was closed as planes and cars sat in water on December 17, after 638mm of rain fell in 20 hours upstream of the airport at Myola, on the Barren River.
The heavy rain is expected to ease slowly during December 18, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
"This is an unprecedented flooding event at Cairns Airport, related to major and rapid flooding at the nearby Barron River, which led to a spillover at our levy wall," a post on the airport's website said.
"This has never happened before."
Photos and videos shared to social media show cars and planes sitting in water, but customers were reassured the carparks for the domestic and international terminals were not impacted.
"Photographs circulating on social media that show submerged vehicles were taken at the general aviation precinct, which is on the other side of the airport," the post said.
About 8am on December 18 an update from the airport said all flights for the day had been cancelled or delayed, with significant debris needing to be cleared.
Weather hampers rescue efforts
Further north at Wujal Wujal nine people including a child have spent the night stuck on the roof of the local hospital, while seven others were on the roof of a house.
They were all able to self-evacuate after floodwaters slightly receded on December 18, Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said.
Emergency services are planning on evacuating the whole community of Wujal Wujal to Cooktown with significant rain expected during the day.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles said low cloud and the heavy rain had prevented aerial support from getting into the community.
"We have people standing by ready to do those rescues but we've got to wait until it's safe to do so," he told ABC News Breakfast.
More than 300 people were rescued from their homes during the night at Yorkey's Knob and Cairns' northern beaches with "every boat we could find", Mr Miles said.
About 15,000 people are without power with the floods hampering restoration efforts.
And Daintree Village is experiencing record major flooding on December 18, well above the previous record levels from 2019.
The river peaked at 14.85 metres about 4am, well and truly exceeding the major flood level of 9 metres.
Rainfall totals up to 820mm have been recorded in the Daintree River catchment in less than 24 hours.
Ex-tropical cyclone Jasper made landfall as a category 2 system on December 13 with damaging winds leaving 40,000 properties without power.
The recent heavy rainfall has been caused by a coastal trough linked to the cyclone, according to the Bureau.
Stay updated with weather and flood warnings at bom.gov.au/australia/warnings/
- For flood assistance contact the SES on 132 500. If your life is in danger call Triple-Zero (000).
With Australian Associated Press
