Australian police rescued a baby kangaroo trapped in waters near the northern town of Burketown on Sunday, which was plagued by record flooding.
The kangaroo, nicknamed ‘Lucky’ by its rescuers, was found in the water where crocodiles had also been spotted.
Over the past few days, police have transported 53 vulnerable people from the small community of 200 people, located 1,000 miles northwest of Queensland’s capital, Brisbane.
The flooding Albert River has turned large areas around the city into lakes, with only treetops visible, according to aerial footage provided by emergency services.
Police said about half of the houses in the village had been flooded.
Shannon Moren, an evacuee, told public broadcaster ABC she was worried about the impact of the flooding on livestock.
“I visited my parents’ property the other day and saw cattle up to their necks in water, literally swimming to survive,” she said.
Australia has been hit with heavy rains for the past two years as the La Niña weather phenomenon intensified in the Pacific.
But the National Weather Bureau predicts drier and warmer weather in the coming months as La Niña comes to an end.
In March 2022, the coastline of the eastern coast was hit by violent storms accompanied by torrential rains which claimed more than 20 lives.
Flash floods swept through parts of eastern Australia later in the year, prompting evacuations in Sydney in July and ripping homes from their foundations in some country towns in November.