Sydney, Feb 4 (IANS): Heavy rainfall has eased, but evacuated residents of northeastern Australia have been told it is not yet safe to return home amid widespread flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) on Tuesday morning cancelled a severe weather warning that had been in place since Friday for Queensland's North Tropical Coast region.
Parts of the region have received almost two metres of rainfall since Friday, causing widespread dangerous flooding, reports Xinhua news agency.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said on Tuesday morning that rainfall in Townsville, the second-largest city in the region, overnight was less severe than predicted.
He said that the coastal towns of Ingham, Cardwell and Halifax -- all between 95 and 140 km northwest of Townsville -- have been hit the hardest by flooding, with information still coming through about the "devastation" in those communities.
Crisafulli said that he expected over 100 properties in Ingham alone to have been inundated by floodwaters.
"This isn't going to be a recovery that goes for a week or a month, this is going to take some time," he said.
Residents of six low-lying suburbs in Townsville were on Saturday ordered to evacuate due to potential life-threatening flooding.
Queensland Police Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson said that the floodwaters would be particularly dangerous for those suburbs on Tuesday morning.
The acting mayor of Townsville, Ann-Maree Greaney, urged residents of those areas not to return until it is declared safe.
Over 8,000 properties in the region remained without power on Tuesday morning.
Electricity supplier Ergon Energy said that it cut power to some customers in Townsville as a precaution as floodwaters rose but that the network was in good condition.
However, it said that restoring power to 4,500 properties in Ingham would be a challenge.
"Getting Ingham back on supply, and back on its feet, will be a marathon, not a sprint," the company said in a statement.
"It's impossible to overstate the scale of the disaster in and around the town."
A generator is expected to be flown into Ingham by helicopter on Tuesday after initial plans to do so on Monday were suspended due to heavy rain.