NRL players help rescue kids trapped in North Queensland floodwaters

Amazing video has emerged of the moment Cowboys players helped rescue a number of children trapped in floodwaters.

Cowboys players and coaching staff were among those evacuated on Monday as record floods ravaged the region.

Brooke Winterstein, wife of former Cowboys winger Antonio, posted video on Facebook of the moment her husband and John Asiata carried kids out of the floodwaters.

Their family had become stranded as they attempted to move through the water by boat.

The Cowboys’ Twitter account also posted a message asking anyone in trouble to get in contact with the players.

“If you are trapped in the Idalia or Oonoonba area, please make contact with Brooke Winterstein via the video below,” the message said.

“Some of the boys are out on boats picking people up and bringing them to safety.”

Players such as Ben Hampton, Gavin Cooper, Jake Granville, Ethan Lowe and Nene Macdonald were all forced to evacuate.

“We’ve only just managed to get them all out of there now and get them into accommodation,” coach Paul Green told NRL.com.

“We are just working through that now.”

On Sunday the weather bureau declared a serious situation in Townsville, with severe storms dumping intense rain into the catchment of the city’s already swollen dam.

“Intense rainfall is being observed over the Ross River Dam catchment – serious situation,” the bureau warned in a storm warning issued at 12.43pm on Sunday.

“Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce intense rainfall that will lead to dangerous flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours.”

At about the same time the warning was issued, Townsville mayor Jenny Hill was giving an update about the management of the dam, amid north Queensland’s flood disaster.

North Queensland’s flood crisis. What we know:

– Between 400 and 500 homes inundated in Townsville

– More than a metre of rain fell in Townsville in seven days – an all time record

– Concerns for up to 20,000 homes depending on falls in coming days

– Intense rain expected until the middle of the week

– Severe weather warning in place for intense rain, flash flooding and damaging winds from Ingham south to Mackay and inland almost to the Northern Territory border

– Conditions could risk the formation of tornadoes

– Properties at risk of inundation near Hughenden, in outback Queensland

– Abnormally high tides, risking coastal inundation, in parts of the peninsula and gulf country

– Early damage estimates put at $16 million but expected to rise dramatically

with AAP