Crocodiles, snakes wash up in Australia floods

Devastating floods in Australia has forced thousands of people from their homes and brought snakes and crocodiles onto the streets as the weather office on Monday forecast more rain with damaging wind gusts.

Much of the city of Townsville in Queensland state is flooded, with residents left without power and some compelled to seek safety on the roofs of their homes, CNN reported.

"Dangerous and high-velocity flows will occur in the Ross River Sunday night into Monday. Unprecedented areas of flooding will occur in Townsville. Expect access routes to be cut," the Queensland Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.

Intense rain on Sunday forced authorities to open the floodgates on the Ross River Dam to relieve pressure, releasing around 1,900 cubic metre of water per second downriver.

On Saturday, as the flooding rapidly worsened, police in parts of Queensland were going door-to-door to warn residents to leave their homes.

"There's going to be heavy rainfall over the next couple of days," state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Monday.

"There will also be damaging wind gusts and intense rainfall with significant flash flooding. So, once again, our message is, if you don't need to be out on the roads, please don't."

Hundreds of homes in Townsville have already been inundated, local media reported.

Meanwhile, emergency services spotted a three-meter crocodile on a road in the city on Sunday night, while resident Erin Hahn posted a photo on social media of one of these reptiles in front of her father's house.

Another resident Helen Murdoch also shared a photo of a crocodile climbing a tree to avoid being swept away by the floods.

The floods have been caused by the heaviest rains recorded in decades in Townsville, where in seven days more than one metre of water has fallen, the average amount falling in a year.

--IANS

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