Victoria Stone-Meadows

The Douglas Shire has been left to pick up the pieces after ex-tropical cyclone Owen swept through the Far North region over the weekend.

The weather system dumped 202mm of rain in Port Douglas since Friday and a further 186mm in Mossman with heaviest falls recorded last night.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, 120mm of rain fell in Port Douglas in the last 24 hours with wind gusts reaching 100km/h at 2am Monday morning.

This is the most rain Port Douglas has seen since March and has already topped the December 2017 total rainfall of 71mm.

See the updated total Rainfall for Port Douglas here:

Meanwhile, Mossman received 101mm in the last 24 hours, which delayed crews working to restore power to residents in parts of Mossman.

A statement from Ergon Energy late last night stated crews would be out working to restore power this morning.

“They’ll be supported by reinforcements from Mareeba and Townsville, as they work to restore power to the remaining customers (approximately 800),” an Ergon spokesperson said. 

“We offer those customers our sincere apologies and thanks for their patience.”

Due to the heavy rainfall, the Mulgrave and Tully Rivers remain under a flood warning.

Group Leader of Mossman SES, Robyn Gray, said crews have been working hard to assist residents with damage from the storm.

“It certainly made a mess of the place,” Ms Gray said.

“There were power lines down as of 3.00pm yesterday and they have only come back on this morning. 

“Yesterday was pretty good but the night before last we had a call out for structural damage and again at 3.00am for chainsaw work.

“There was structural damage where a tree had smashed a veranda in Mowbray but it didn’t touch main house part – it was too big for SES to deal with.”

Ms Gray said the rain didn’t cause too much flooding and trees being uprooted were the main cause for concern.

“There were four all up we were called to but there were only three activations,” Ms Gray said.

“We had to do extra jobs to clear trees to get to the activations.”

Ms Gray said the SES are ready and prepared for if the ex-cyclone moves back across the cape later in the week.

The Bureau of Meteorology are expecting the system in intensify in the Gulf of Carpentaria but continue to move westward.

However, the BOM say there is no certainty with cyclone movements and residents in FNQ should be wary of the storm developing into a category one system and making it's way back across the cape. 

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