Fancy a spot of Urban Crocodile Surfing?

Archeron · 15-02-2008 12:00pm #1

How about this for a new sport idea; Urban Crocodile Surfing.
All you need is a good sized harness and really good balance. Good old mother nature takes care of everything else.
Just dont fall off.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/mheyidsngbid/

A flooded Australian town was warned to be alert for marauding crocodiles swimming its streets today.

Up to 1,000 people have already had to be evacuated from Mackay, a mining and sugarcane farming town in Queensland, after it received twice its monthly average of rain in 24 hours.

The airport was closed by floodwater and debris, and phone land lines were cut, leaving only mobiles working.

State officials declared the city a disaster zone, warned people not to venture out into the floodwaters, and began evacuating residents to higher ground.

“No one should try to drive through, walk or swim in floodwaters as it is too dangerous,” said Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts.

Among the dangers was the possibility that crocodiles that normally live in rivers and estuaries in the area would be swimming through the floodwaters, said state Environmental Protection Agency official Joe Adair.

Anyone who spotted one of the giant reptiles should stay away from it, he said.

“If they become close to a crocodile they should not chase it or provoke it because they will lose,” Adair said.

Once almost extinct, saltwater crocodiles that regularly grow to around 16 feet in length have become more common in waterways in Australia’s tropical north since a hunting ban was imposed in the 1970s. Attacks on humans are rare.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised federal assistance to those affected by the floods.

Around 25 inches of rain fell in the 24 hours to Monday morning – twice the monthly average for Mackay – and more was coming down.

The floodwaters were expected to peak late today, then recede quickly.