Other locals told the BBC on Monday night that they were “on a knife edge” as they awaited the survival of their homes.
However, it has been challenging to determine the complete extent of the devastation in towns like Ingham and Cardwell further north in the state due to power outages and damaged roadways.
According to Crisafulli, Ingham, which is nearly completely without electricity, “remains the biggest challenge” and the destruction was “quite frankly incredible” according to early reports.
He informed reporters on Tuesday that “there are people who have been inundated at home, in their businesses, and in their farms.”
Local media outlets featured footage of people waiting in huge lines for essential supplies at the town’s supermarket. According to Crisafulli, a gas station was operational and the neighboring hospital was functioning normally despite the blackout.
In an online video, local MP Nick Dametto stated that the water has damaged the region’s homes, crops, and beaches.
“The inundation is something that I have never seen before,” he stated.
Ingham, which has a population of less than 5,000, was already in shock following the death of a 63-year-old lady on Sunday when a State Emergency Service (SES) dinghy capsized during a rescue effort.
After a neighbor raised the alarm, the second woman’s body was discovered on Tuesday just north of Ingham. According to a statement from Queensland Police, she was last seen in a home on Monday night.
The state’s energy supplier reports that over 8,000 properties in northern Queensland are still without electricity, and efforts to help some of the most affected communities are still hampered by the partial collapse of a vital highway.
Crisafulli stated that the recovery process would “take some time” and that collaborating with the army to “bring them back online” and provide power generators to remote towns would be the top priority in the hours ahead. He also mentioned that the state’s principal route, the 1,673-kilometer (1,039-mile) Bruce Highway, will be rebuilt with federal funding.
Northern Queensland, which is in the tropics, is susceptible to flooding, storms, and catastrophic cyclones.
Local resident and climate scientist Scott Heron told the BBC in Townsville that the most recent calamity was not surprising.
Prof. Heron, the Unesco Chair on Climate Vulnerability of Heritage and a professor at James Cook University, stated, “Climate scientists have been clear for a long time that extreme weather events will become more extreme, and we are seeing that.”
When planning rehabilitation and reconstruction projects, like the Bruce Highway, Prof. Heron advised legislators to take this into account.
He claimed that failing to “incorporate changing threats due to climate change” into infrastructure design, especially for long-term projects like roads and bridges, would be “wasting public money.”
Hannah Ritchie in Sydney for more reporting.
The locals waiting out Australia’s floodwaters said, “We haven’t panicked, but we are prepared.”