Australian town on crocodile alert after floods

A FLOODED Australian town was warned to be alert for marauding crocodiles swimming its streets yesterday.

Up to 1,000 people have already been evacuated from Mackay, a mining and sugarcane farming town in Queensland, after it received twice its monthly average of rain in 24 hours. About 635mm (25 inches) of rain fell.

The airport was closed by floodwater and debris, and phone land lines were cut, leaving only mobiles working.

State officials declared the city a disaster zone, warned people not to venture out into the floodwaters, and began evacuating residents to higher ground. “No one should try to drive through, walk or swim in floodwaters as it is too dangerous,” said Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts.

Among the dangers was the possibility that crocodiles that normally live in rivers and estuaries in the area would be swimming through the floodwaters, said state Environmental Protection Agency official Joe Adair.

Anyone who spotted one of the giant reptiles should stay away from it, he said.

“If they become close to a crocodile they should not chase it or provoke it because they will lose,” said Mr Adair.

Once almost extinct, saltwater crocodiles that regularly grow to about 5m (16ft) in length have become more common in waterways in Australia’s tropical north since a hunting ban was imposed in the 1970s. Attacks on humans are rare.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised federal assistance to those affected by the floods.