The airport under water after Cyclone Jasper

Parts of the state of Queensland in north-eastern Australia have been affected by severe flooding in connection with tropical cyclone Jasper.

The airport in the tourist city of Cairns is closed and planes stand with water up to their bellies.

– It’s very wet, almost all the roads out of (Cairns suburb) Smithfield are blocked, says Ken Turner, who has been out flying drones over the area.

He testifies to streets that are half a meter under water, trees that have fallen over streets and cows that have been swept away in the Barron River.

– At Holloways Beach, which is another suburb nearby, there are currently 20 people stuck on a roof. These are houses that are completely destroyed, he says.

The airport in the tourist city of Cairns has been forced to close, and pictures from the scene show planes standing with water up to their bellies.

The airport states that it will remain closed until at least Monday.

The Barron River is at its highest measured level since measurements began in 1915, and at the community of Myola, west of Smithfield, the river is 13.6 meters higher than normal, reports ABC News.

Myola has so far received around 500 millimeters of rain in half a day. In some places, another 300 millimeters is expected.