More parts of South Australia have been lashed with “extreme” rainfall, with one town being hit with more than 50mm in about an hour.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Port Augusta, which is about 322 kilometres north of Adelaide, had 58mm of rain recorded from 8pm to 11.30pm, with 51.6mm of that falling within the first hour.
The State Emergency Service received about 80 call-outs as people reported their properties began floxjmtzywoding and four swift water rescues needed to be made on Monday night.
More than 100 jobs have been responded to across SA over the past 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday.
But more rain is still to come for the state’s north that has already been drenched with heavy falls last week.
Pukatja in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands is a very remote area that is now even harder to access because up to 106mm of rain fell there before 9am on Tuesday.
Further rain and thunderstorms are forecast across the pastoral districts from Tuesday through to Wednesday.
Between 2mm and 20mm is predicted until midnight Wednesday for the southern parts of the pastoral districts, while between 20mm and 80mm is forecast for the northern areas. Localised falls of up to 120mm are possible.
A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall for people in the north east pastoral district and parts of the north west pastoral district remains in place.
Authorities are still trying to locate missing Queensland man Christopher Taylor in the flooded areas of the state’s north.
The 40-year-old was last seen on foot at the Innamincka Trading Post about 7pm on January 25.
Emergency services crews have been searching the Coopers Creek, Strzelecki Track and Innamincka areas for the past week, but Mr Taylor has not yet been found.
He is about 178cm tall with a black beard and dark hair and was wearing a dark coloured T-shirt, shorts and thongs.
“Police and family hold concerns for his welfare as Christopher has an intellectual disability and can easily become disorientated and confused,” SA Police said.
Premier Steven Marshall said the heavy rain that fell on Port Augusta and the APY lands created a “dangerous situation” for residents.
South Australians were again asked to avoid travelling to the north of the state as those heading towards the flood-affected areas were exacerbating the problem for emergency service responders.
The Premier defended the decision to declare the floods a major emergency, saying it was “absolutely necessary”.
He said the declaration, which was made for up to 14 days, will remain in place “for the foreseeable future”.
“We needed some increased powers to deal with some very remote communities, food security and access for our road and rail corridor,” he said.
“We still don't have an accurate assessment of what is happening with the road corridor and the situation has been exacerbated by the extreme rainfall events overnight.”
It was only on Monday that the Royal Australian Air Force began flying goods to Coober Pedy as floodwaters cut off the town.
Food supplies headed for Western Australian and the Northern Territory have also been impacted as the rail and road routes to transport product to those jurisdictions have been damaged and covered in water.
