Australians flee floods of 'biblical proportions' - Summary

Sat, 01 Jan 2011

Sydney - Thousands of Australians saw in the New Year from evacuation centers after the worst floods in 50 years put half the east coast state of Queensland under water.

Around 200,000 have been forced to flee their homes as torrential rain since Christmas Day has inundated an area the size of France and Germany combined.

The people of Emerald, Condamine, Theodore and Rockhampton have been offered airlifts out as rising waters maroon whole towns, wrecking houses, isolating farms and shutting the nation's economically crucial coal mines.

In Rockhampton, where the airport is closed to commercial aircraft, the 100,000 residents were warned of a city that will be split in two when the Fitzroy River peaks later this week.

"This is a very serious situation," said Mayor Brad Carter, likening the inundation to the great flood of 1918. He said the airport could be closed for up to three weeks.

Roads and rail links serving Rockhampton, known as Australia's beef capital because it is in cattle country, are expected to be out for weeks.

"In many ways it's a disaster of biblical proportions," Queensland Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser said.

Last year was Australia's wettest in 36 years and the Bureau of Meteorology told locals to prepare for new flood records later in the week.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said 22 towns had been affected and the damage bill would run into billions of dollars.

"Queenslanders are going to need every bit of help they can get," she said. "In state infrastructure alone, such as roads, rail and schools, we are looking at a bill that could well run into the billions."

Fraser said there was an enormous personal cost, as householders contemplated the prospect of returning to homes rendered uninhabitable by floodwaters.

"That's a huge toll for them, a huge toll on them psychologically," he said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360344,biblical-proportions-summary.html.