25 dead and dozens missing as flood waters swallow up Brisbane

Mangalore Today News Network

Australia, Jan 13: Flood waters washing through Australia’s third-largest city have submerged entire neighbourhoods and caused damage one official likened to the aftermath of war.

 

The death toll from the Queensland flooding is currently at 25 - and looks set to increase as the water recedes to reveal the corpses of missing people.

One man died in Brisbane after being sucked into a storm drain by the muddy waters, Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said.

Thousands of homes were swamped, and officials told residents it will be days before many of them can return to their houses.

 

Others were told their homes will never be habitable again.

In one spot of bright news, the swollen Brisbane River’s peak was about a metre lower than predicted, at a depth slightly below that of 1974 floods that swept the city.

 

The river had already begun to recede by Thursday afternoon, though it was expected to stay high for several days.

Waters in some areas had reached the tops of roofs, shut down roads and power, and devastated entire neighbourhoods.

 

Mayor Campbell Newman said 11,900 homes and 2,500 businesses had been completely inundated, with another 14,700 houses and 2,500 businesses at least partially covered in water.

’Queensland is reeling this morning from the worst natural disaster in our history and possibly in the history of our nation,’ Bligh told reporters.

’We’ve seen three-quarters of our state having experienced the devastation of raging flood waters and we now face a reconstruction task of post-war proportions.’

The flooding, which began in late November, has submerged dozens of towns - some three times - and left an area the size of Germany and France combined under water.

Highways and rail lines have been washed away in the disaster, which is shaping up to be Australia’s costliest, with early damage estimates around $5 billion.

At least 61 people are missing, and the death toll is expected to rise. Many of those unaccounted for disappeared from around Toowoomba, a city west of Brisbane that saw massive flash floods on Monday sweep away cars, road signs and people.

Fourteen died in that flood alone, with police finding the bodies of two of those people on Thursday.

Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart warned that number was likely to rise as search and rescue teams accessed more devastated areas Thursday.

’We’ve got to brace ourselves for more bad news,’ Stewart said.

Almost 115,000 homes were without power across Queensland by Thursday because electricity was switched off to prevent electrocutions and damage to electrical systems.

In Brisbane, roads were flooded, railway lines were cut and sewage began spilling into the flood waters.

People moved about in kayaks, rowboats and even on surfboards. Boats torn from their moorings floated down an engorged river.

Brisbane’s office buildings stood empty with the normally bustling central business district transformed into a watery ghost town.

A 300-metre stretch of a pedestrian boardwalk weighing 300 tons broke loose and drifted downstream before two tug boats were able to steer it away from bridges.

About 200 police officers were patrolling flooded streets around the clock. Three men were charged with looting after police said they tried to steal dinghies from the swollen river.

Despite the devastation, many remained thankful the river had spared them the worst of its fury.

’There’s a fair bit of relief around this morning - we’re thanking our stars a bit, that’s for sure,’ said Andrew Turner, whose house in the flooded suburb of Graceville escaped inundation.

’We were pretty much braced for the worst and were all but packed up and ready to go.’