Children are being winched out of remote communities, while livestock and wallabies are seeking refuge on small islands in what has been described as the worst flooding in Western Australia's history, in the state's northern Kimberley region.
"People in the Kimberley are experiencing a one-in-100-year flood event, the worst flooding WA has ever seen," the state's Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said.
"This situation is still changing and it's proving to be extremely challenging."
About 60,000 cubic metres of water per second is flowing down the swollen Fitzroy River, which is expected to create a 50-kilometre-wide inland sea as it spreads across the flood plain.
Broome became the latest town cut off by road on Thursday, joining Derby and Fitzroy Crossing, after being lashed by 400 millimetres of rainfall over 48 hours (more than double the region's monthly average) generated by ex-tropical cyclone Ellie.
The Fitzroy River snakes more than 700 kilometres from the east Kimberley to meet the Indian Ocean near Derby.
"It's one of the highest flow rates we've ever seen in an Australian river," meteorologist James Ashley said. "The amount of water moving down the Fitzroy River in a day is about what Perth uses water-wise in 20 years."
Only a few streets remain above the murky floodwater in the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing, a four-hour drive east of Broome, where helicopters and boats were evacuating residents, including children, from the rising water on Wednesday.
The town's supermarket and homes were also flooded.
Authorities and community groups have been working around the clock to get people to safety, said Jane Guthrie, manager at the Fitzroy Workers Camp, which provides accommodation for workers.
"There's a lot of scared people around out in the communities," she said.
"There's a lot of dead animals and the cows are basically getting flushed down the river. The wallabies have nowhere to go and there are wild pigs swanning around. Luckily we only have fresh water crocs."
Floodwater began receding slightly from Fitzroy Crossing on Friday, after the river peaked at 15.81 metres on Wednesday, which surpassed the record 13.95 metres set 20 years ago.
But the town remains cut off.
"While the water will begin to go down over the next few days, it will still be fast-flowing and dangerous. Communities are expected to be isolated for more than seven days," the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Fitzroy Crossing nurse Jess Grayson said many residents didn't anticipate the extent of flooding in a region accustomed to a big wet season.
"A lot of people are climbing up on roofs because they've left it too long or didn't realise the extent of the floods. People have abandoned their belongings and homes and have lost all their belongings, and might not have brought medications," she said.
Grayson said the community remained nervous about the need to evacuate more people from remote towns should water rise again.
"The community spirit is quite high, everyone is coming together in this time of need. The mob have been making sure that everyone in their area is looked after," she said.
"If the river rises again there is the potential that they might have to evacuate more people."
A 700-kilometre-section of the Great Northern Highway between Broome and Halls Creek has been closed, and it is likely the freight route south of Broome is also impassable at low-lying Roebuck Plains. That could take weeks to drain.
Authorities have temporarily allowed long road trains to use alternate routes to ensure food and essential supplies reach WA's north and the Northern Territory.
About a dozen wallabies were photographed on Thursday huddled on a small island near Fitzroy Crossing.
Broome resident and director of environment group Environs Kimberley, Martin Pritchard, said wallabies and other animals became stranded on dirt mounds while trying to flee the fast-moving floodwater.
"Unfortunately, many have been trapped. There's a lot of wallabies stuck on a mound in one of the most notable photos, which is really distressing," he said.
"A lot will have been lost to the floods, including a lot of cattle."
While communities along the Fitzroy River are accustomed to flooding, Pritchard said authorities were not prepared to deal with inundation of this magnitude.
He said "a whole-scale review of what's happened here" was needed to plan for future extreme events.
"What we'd be looking at is a flood plan - a flood evacuation plan - making sure that in the future people aren't taken by surprise," he said.
Although the floods have been catastrophic for communities and wildlife, Pritchard said they would provide an unprecedented boost for the heritage-listed river.
He expected populations of barramundi, cherabin prawn and the critically endangered freshwater sawfish, as well as migratory birds, to surge.
The flood is also expected to boost life along the Kimberley coast as the floodwater flows into the ocean, providing nutrients to coral reef and seagrass beds.
More emergency evacuations were carried out in the tiny community of Noonkanbah, about 400 kilometres east of Broome, where helicopters plucked anxious residents from the sodden outstation on Thursday.
Early on Friday, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services warned the community of Balgo, about 400 kilometres south-east of Fitzroy Crossing, to brace for severe weather conditions.
The slow-moving weather system has moved to the south-east and is expected to move further inland towards the Northern Territory on Friday afternoon.
The weather bureau has warned that parts of WA's north-east could receive up to 150 millimetres of rain within 24 hours, creating the risk of dangerous flash flooding.
Australia's Southern side is now feeling the influence of the increasing development of cold air in the Southern hemisphere, next year the Northern side of Australia will be effected too.
LindaMay Yup, it is an unfortunate land mass that slowly emerged from the sea and will by virtue of volcanic activity and tectonic moments be dismantled.
This is Very Very interesting. I'm going to quote from a book that was provided to humanity in 1990 through the experience of Michel Desmarquet who, at that time, was a resident of Cairns, Australia. Many will think this book to be 'science fiction'... I, for one, KNOW that it is an accurate account of his experience. Humanity would do well to heed it's Warnings and directions.
From Thiaoouba Prophecy, page 35
โIn those times, Australia possessed a great inland sea fed by several large rivers, so that diverse and interesting flora and fauna flourished there.โ
page 36
โI have not yet explained that, at that time, Australia was on the equator. Earth rotated on a different axis โ taking 30 hours and 12 minutes to complete a rotation, and achieved a revolution around it's sun in 280 such days. The equatorial climate was not as you will find it today. It was much more humid than now, for the Earth's atmosphere has changed.โ
The book is still in print, but is also available as a free pdf.
Check out the FAQ at the web site, particularly Q&A #1
[Link]
Then, see this very short youtube shorts video (less than a minute long)
Australia's Southern side is now feeling the influence of the increasing development of cold air in the Southern hemisphere, next year the Northern side of Australia will be effected too.
Times are changing and so is Earth's landscapes.