By Richard Shears
Last updated at 6:42 PM on 11th January 2011
- 6,500 Brisbane properties expected to be flooded
- People airlifted from homes as flash floods engulf Toowoomba
- Women and children among 78 still missing
Four children were among the eleven dead today after catastrophic flash flooding devastated Queensland.
The latest victim was a four-year-old boy who toppled out of a rescue boat after his family attempted to flee their home in Marburg, 37 miles west of Brisbane.
With officials warning of worse flooding to come, thousands abandoned their homes and fled the unstoppable wall of water.
The Lord Mayor of Australia's third city, Campbell Newman, warned that the upper reaches of the Brisbane River had burst their banks and water was heading rapidly towards the area.
People clamber onto the roof of their house in Grantham, a township between Toowomba and Brisbane, after tsunami-like flash floods
A man is lifted into to a rescue helicopter in the flooded town of Toowoomba. The flash floods today raced towards Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane, prompting evacuations of its outskirts
People in Grantham wait to be rescued as the flood water begins to engulf their house
As TV pictures showed whole houses being moved by the weight of water and trapped residents airlifted from the roofs of their homes, he estimated 6,500 properties would be flooded in the city itself.
The cascading water has been held up temporarily at the Wivenhoe dam.
At least 78 people remain missing from the flash flood that struck without warning in the city of Toowoomba, 70 miles west of Brisbane,.
Families, buildings and cars were carried away and there are now grave fears were held for the residents of smaller towns in the nearby Lockyer Valley.
Lord Mayor Newman described the situation as 'very serious' and explained that the next few days will see a large-scale disaster unfolding across the city, ahead of an expected peak in the Brisbane River on Thursday.
He said: 'Wednesday is going to be bad and Thursday is going to be desperate. Thousands of homes will be affected.'
Survivor: Ellisha Johnston and Sarah Gilbert rescue a wallaby that they found struggling against floodwaters in the town of Dalby in Queensland
The Wivenhoe dam, built after the infamous 1974 floods to protect Brisbane, is currently full, and dam managers have no choice but to continue with increased, controlled releases.
'It's going to come down the river to the city of Brisbane and there's not much dam managers can do about that,' said Newman.
Brisbane's Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has warned that an estimated 6,500 properties will be flooded in his city
As Army Black Hawk helicopters lifted hundreds of people in Toowoomba from rooftops where they had waited anxiously through the night with the powerful wall of water threatening to sweep them away, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh warned: 'We have a grim and desperate situation.'
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is being constantly updated on the drama, told Australians: 'The nation does need to brace itself for the fact that the death toll as a result of yesterday's flash flooding and walls of water is likely to rise.'
Hilltops have been turned into islands by the water which in places is expected to become 60ft deep and rival devastating floods that covered Queensland 37 years ago.
Food stores in Brisbane's city centre were stripped bare of supplies today as panic began to spread after weather forecasters admitted they were unable to bring any good news about an easing in the storm pattern.
Rescue teams, government officials and families have been left in a state of shock by the devastation caused by the Toowoomba flash flood which created scenes likened to a Hollywood disaster movie.
Cars were tossed about like corks, a railway line was buckled and homes and walls tumbled. What was left, said one local resident, was like the landscape in a war zone.
Hundreds of homes in Forest Hill, Queensland, have been engulfed by water
The Brisbane river creeps into walkways and streets. It is feared Australia's third largest city could be about to experience its worst flood since the catastrophic 1974 event, when at least 6700 homes were partially or totally flooded
The Brisbane River overflows as it fails to contain the flood water. The Wivenhoe dam, built after the 1974 floods to protect Brisbane, is full, and dam managers have no choice but to continue with increased, controlled releases into the river
Australia's PM Julia Gillard warned that the nation needs to 'brace itself' for more flooding and an increase in the death toll
Horrifying video pictures have shown survivors clinging to trees and posts while others gripped rooftops hoping they would not be swept away. Screams of desperate people could be heard in the background.
'We are now mired in a very different sort of disaster,' said Miss Bligh, who had already been masterminding rescue efforts in earlier flooding to the north of Brisbane.
'This is testing our emergency resources and it will test us as a community and as people. It might be breaking our hearts at the moment, but it will not break our will.'
The weather was so bad in the Lockyer Valley today that rescue teams, either in storm-battered helicopters or on the waterlogged land, were unable to reach many properties.
'Many of the people who are stranded or unaccounted for are families and young children,' said Miss Bligh, who has promised to keep the nation updated every two hours.
'They span from the very young, right through to the very old, but we do have some whole families who, at this stage, are unaccounted for.
'Until we get our emergency people into those areas, we really can't give you anything more certain other than to say in all honesty we hold very grave concerns for a number of these people who are not accounted for.'
In the town of Ipswich, 24 miles west of Brisbane, residents were told to start moving to higher ground as rain continued to lash down on the area, causing rivers and creeks to rise rapidly.
TV reporter Alison Fletcher, standing on the edge of a river at Ipswich as she sent in as live report to Channel Nine said that when she began her report the water was a foot behind her and now, two minutes later, it had crept up over her ankles.
A police control officer closes off streets as the Brisbane river burst its banks. Queensland has been in the grip of its worst flooding for more than two weeks following tropical downpours
Residents fill sandbags outside a residential apartment building in the Brisbane suburb of West End as they prepare for major floods from the Brisbane River
'This is how fast it's rising,' she said, warning that the water was heading towards Brisbane.
Residents in the Lockyer Valley who are able to get away from their homes were urged to leave for higher ground immediately as weather forecasters predicted more powerful storms and torrential rain to strike in the next 24 hours.
'I have to say we're daunted by the scale of this flood disaster,' said Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart, warning it was going to take some time to reach people in isolated areas.
At least 10,000 Brisbane homes were expected be inundated by flood waters over the next 24 hours and thousands of people began filling emergency evacuation centres.
Flood waters surge across railway tracks towards shops after flood water inundated the city of Toowoomba
A road destroyed by floods in Toowoomba. Nine people are dead and 66 are still missing after flash floods swept through the hill region in eastern Australia
An overturned car is seen almost fully submerged in central Toowoomba
Thousands more fled the city in their cars hoping to reach their homes and try to make them secure before the expected flood rushes in.
As grave fears continued for those still missing from the Toowoomba area witnesses to the disaster told of horrifying scenes. Panel beater Colin McNamara told how he and a group of residents tried to get ropes to two women before they were swept away.
'They were petrified - absolutely petrified. They were wet and basically pleading for help. They weren't saying much but you could see it in their eyes,' he said.
In a moment of good news, however, he said he had learned later that they had managed to survive.
'The water was roaring, it was that loud,' said resident Karen Sargent. 'The lightning was cracking and it was pretty blood scary.
'Cars were stacked up on top of each other and a large shipping container was washed away, ripping up roads as it went.'
Map showing the main areas affected by the Queensland flooding
Richard, Oxford, 11/1/2011 20:50 -- you ask " where is all of this water coming from?" The answer is the SEA . There is a La Nina event occurring . The moisture is coming in from the NNE over the sea and turns to rain over the land .What is odd is the intensity of this otherwise regular event . One good explanation for the extreme rainfall is higher sea surface temperatures driven by ..you guessed it .. global warming . It has rained everywhere on the east seaboard since around November ( but meanwhile Western Australia experiencing severe drought and bush fire !!!). Worldwide nature is sending us a BIG warning . I just hope we are listening before its too late . This flood will be the biggest in QLD history and rain will continue until at least MAY ..How so? Well the Southern Oscillation Index is well into the positive and a glance at the charts shows it doesn't change quickly . While its positive it rains . Good luck to those in the flood
- Dan O'Brien, Canberra Australia, 11/1/2011 11:52
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