QUEENSLAND, Australia – Some Queenslanders didn’t take police warnings to stay out of flood waters very seriously — until a bull shark washed up in the street. Category four Cyclone Debbie hit northeastern Australia on Tuesday between Bowen and Airlie Beach in Queensland state, ripping up trees, washing boats onto land and causing widespread damage. Debbie was downgraded to a tropical low as it tracked southeast, but continued to pack damaging gusts and dump huge amounts of rain all the way down the eastern coast to New South Wales state, south of Queensland, and Sydney. No deaths have been recorded so far, but areas of southeast Queensland have been hit with extensive flooding. Australian emergency services have repeatedly warned people to stay out of the flood waters, after photos and videos emerged of locals playing in flooded streets, and even doing some surfing. But the discovery of a huge dead bull shark in floodwaters near Ayr, just south of Townsville, is likely to give some residents pause. The photo was taken by emergency service crews checking on flooded roads in the area. Queensland Fire & Emergency were among those to tweet out the discovery, saying, “Think it’s safe to go back in the water? Cyclone Debbie hit as a category four storm in the north of tropical Queensland state Tuesday, smashing tourist resorts, bringing down power lines, flattening cane fields and shutting down coal mines. The International Space Station captured the swirling clouds in the hours before Debbie hit. The storm quickly weakened as it moved inland, but continued to dump rain across Queensland and New South Wales through Thursday. Social media showed local children taking full advantage of the day off, swimming and playing in the heavy rain. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said heavy rainfall is expected to continue for about the next 24 hours and some residents were preparing sandbags to avoid any further flood damage to their properties. “This severe weather system that began with Cyclone Debbie and is tracking down the coast is causing havoc across our state,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters in the state capital, Brisbane.
Authorities of New South Wales issue a State Emergency Service for the towns of Murwillumbah and Lismore, and at least 12 flood rescues are underway as former Cyclone Debbie moves south from north Queensland.