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  • Queensland Floods (Australia)

    Grave fears for dozens missing in deadly floods


    Eight people are dead and grave fears are held for more than 70 people still missing after yesterday's unprecedented flash flooding in southern Queensland.

    Young children are among those dead after a wall of water raged down the Great Dividing Range at Toowoomba, crashing through several smaller towns in the Lockyer Valley below.

    Police say more deaths are expected but the numbers cannot be estimated.

    It is unknown how many people remain stranded on their roofs as the torrent heads east, while residents in low-lying areas of the Brisbane Valley are being urged to leave as a severe storm looms over the region.

    Premier Anna Bligh says the major centres of concern today are Toowoomba, Murphys Creek, Helidon, Grantham, Gatton, Glenore Grove and other places downstream.

    Emergency authorities are being assisted in search and rescue efforts by aircraft and four-wheel drive vehicles from the Defence Force and the Australian Federal Police.

    The Red Cross says it has not been able to get into the affected areas because conditions have been too dangerous.


    •Current weather warnings
    •Send us your flood photos
    •View road closures on the RACQ site
    •In an emergency call the SES on 132 500
    •Donate to the national flood appeal

    Evacuations are continuing across the Lockyer Valley, while people in Esk, Toogoolawah and Forest Hill are being moved to higher ground.

    There is flooding in Nanango and Cherbourg is cut off.

    The Warrego Highway between Ipswich and Toowoomba is cut in many places and motorists have been told to stay off roads in order to give priority access to emergency vehicles.

    Ms Bligh is warning residents to listen to radio reports and more than 18,000 customers are without power.

    "We know that we have people stranded and people lost. We are doing our best to protect our emergency workers," she said.

    "There's no doubt that we are now in a very different sort of disaster. What it is doing is testing our emergency response. It will test us as communities and as people.

    She says more water will be released from Wivenhoe Dam today to try and reduce the flood threat.

    "The releases being made from Wivenhoe Dam are not optional," she said.

    "We need to make sure that we protect people down this river system."

    The Premier says Dalby and Chinchilla to the west are facing flood peaks today as high, if not a higher, than what they faced 10 days ago.

    She confirmed 165 people were evacuated from Dalby overnight and more emergency resources are ready to be deployed.

    "It is not a lack of resources that is hampering our effort - it is the very heavy weather that is keeping helicopters on the ground and keeping some of our SES out of the swollen rivers," she said.

    "So we are in desperate circumstances and we hope the weather starts to lift just a little so we can get in and start to assess how many people are still on rooftops and really get in to start to do those heavy water searches for the people we know are missing.

    "This is, as I said, a grim and desperate situation and it's far from over - we are right in the middle of the emergency rescue response."


    Home swept away

    The SES says it received 4,500 calls for assistance from Toowoomba where flash flooding likened to an inland tsunami washed away cars and houses.

    Long-serving Toowoomba regional councillor Joe Ramia says he has never seen anything like it.

    "It was almost like a movie scene - I went to a car park, it's a council car park - and we had cars stacked on top of each other," he said.

    "Those cars, the only way they could get up there would be to float up... you know float one car on top of another car."

    In the town of Grantham four people have died and police say more than 10 are missing.

    Local man Christopher Field says the rain has not stopped and the water started to rise again this morning.

    He told AM about seven houses have been swept away.

    "Yesterday afternoon at about three o'clock I think it was, I got woken up to go and have a look and there were houses floating past then," he said.

    "It got a bit worse overnight. We came down about 10 o'clock last night and we were just talking to the SES that were getting people off roofs."


    Roads cut

    Late last night as the waters receded a convoy of cars is understood to have left Withcott under police escort for nearby Toowoomba.

    A resident who was in the convoy says those who stayed are taking shelter at the local school.

    Holly Webster runs a business in Withcott which was destroyed in last night's flooding, but she has been stuck in nearby Gatton, which is also flooded.

    "All the roads are cut in every direction. There's deluges of water - it's still pouring down," she said.

    "There's water still pouring down from the hills, covering the roads... the dams are all busting their banks and have just flown over the roads.

    "The bitumen is all lifted on the road, the creek banks have washed away.

    "When all the water goes down the amount of land that farmers would have lost will be huge. There's irrigation pipes, all sorts of livestock and equipment just rushing down the river."

    The Brisbane Valley town of Esk was also hit by severe flash flooding.

    Mayor Graeme Lehmann says cars and a house were washed away and buildings were swamped.

    "We've had a couple of people that do a lot of work around the jockey club actually got washed away and they clung to a tree," he said.

    "Luckily there happened to be a helicopter in the area and we managed to be able to rescue them so that was really good news."

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...11/3110285.htm


    If you go to the link above you find links to other stories on this disaster.

  • #2
    Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

    YouTube users capture Toowoomba flooding
    Source: ABC News
    Published: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 9:28 AEDT
    Expires: Monday, April 11, 2011 9:28 AEDT

    YouTube users have uploaded footage of the devastation caused by flooding in Toowoomba.

    video is at the link http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/01/11/3110273.htm

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

      Flash floods claim 8 lives
      Source: ABC News
      Published: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 9:13 AEDT
      Expires: Monday, April 11, 2011 9:13 AEDT

      Eight people are dead and scores are missing after flash floods swept through south-east Queensland.

      video/news at link http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/01/11/3110257.htm

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

        Grantham is a town left in tatters
        Source: ABC News
        Published: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 10:57 AEDT
        Expires: Monday, April 11, 2011 10:57 AEDT

        First light has revealed a trail of carnage throughout the small Queensland town of Grantham which was swamped by flash floods.

        video and news at link http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/01/11/3110349.htm

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

          Raging floods bear down on Brisbane


          The Brisbane River has broken its banks amid dire predictions of the biggest floods to hit Queensland's capital since 1974.



          The weather bureau says the river is expected to reach major flood levels tomorrow afternoon and rise further on Thursday.

          Police are preparing residents and business owners in the inner-city suburb of West End for the possibility of evacuations later today.

          The Brisbane City Council says more than 200 homes and businesses along the river are at risk, most at Rocklea, Albion, Milton and Auchenflower.

          Police are advising all residents in low-lying parts of Caboolture and Strathpine to the north of Brisbane to evacuate to higher ground immediately.


          •Suburbs at risk
          •Current weather warnings
          •Send us your flood photos
          •Road closures
          •In an emergency call the SES on 132 500
          •Donate to the national flood appeal

          The threat to Brisbane comes after an inland tsunami swept through Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley yesterday, leaving eight people dead and more than 70 missing.

          That wave of brown water is now making its way towards the Brisbane River and catchment areas, where the capital's defence of Wivenhoe Dam is struggling to hold back the deluge.

          Officials have had to increase the amount of water being released from Wivenhoe because of major inflows coming from the Lockyer and Brisbane valleys.

          The Bremer River at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, is expected to peak above 18 metres at noon (AEST).

          The river has broken its banks in parts of West End and water is reportedly slowly creeping onto roads in low-lying areas there.

          Buildings in Fortitude Valley and businesses at Eagle Street Pier in the city are also being evacuated.

          The potentially looming disaster in the city is being made worse by cut and congested mobile phone lines, making communication difficult. Vodafone customers have been without reception for most of the morning.

          People have been asked to stay off telephones unless absolutely necessary to avoid congesting lines for emergency services.

          Jodie Craig, who owns the Joynt Hotel on Montague Road in West End, is trying to move belongings to the upper floors of the hotel.

          "Up until last night I was freaking out a bit and then this morning I've just been watching the news and I guess I should start doing something," she said.

          "I'm going to take all my electrical equipment and stuff that's worth a lot of money upstairs and hopefully it'll be safe up there."

          Ms Craig says the ground floor of the hotel was completely submerged in the 1974 floods and she hopes the Wivenhoe Dam is enough to hold back the water this time.

          She says she has been without phone reception for several hours and is unsure if police are wanting people to evacuate.

          "The road's pretty busy. It's not like there's anyone in uniform telling us to leave," she said.

          "I'm really clueless as to what's going on. People are just telling me West End's been told to evacuate. I really don't know. I'll just get my stuff up."

          Being so close to the river means Ms Craig is unable to get flood insurance.

          "That's why I wanted to get all the stuff that's the most important to me," she said.

          "I mean I'm not going to worry about furniture and things like that, there's not really much I can do."

          Police say they have not ordered any evacuations of West End residents or businesses yet but with a high tide expected in just over two hours and a large volume of water still moving down the Brisbane River, that situation could change.

          Police have stationed several officers along Riverside Drive between Orleigh Park and the Go Between Bridge at West End.

          They are now turning back traffic trying to access Riverside Drive after the decision was made earlier today to close the road.

          A telephone hotline - 1300 993 191 - has been set up for people seeking information on friends and relatives caught up in the flooding disaster.

          Tags: disasters-and-accidents, floods, weather, rainfall, australia, qld, albion-4010, auchenflower-4066, brisbane-4000, milton-4064, rocklea-4106

          First posted 38 minutes ago

          http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...11/3110450.htm

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

            In this story ABC weather reporter Jenny Woodward talks about the history and causes of flooding in Queensland. This is a Storylines Q150 digital story. This digital story was made by the State Library of Queensland with funding from the Queensland Government. It is a legacy of the Q150 celebrations in 2009.



            Queensland's Floods with Jenny Woodward


            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

              Dramatic footage of the Queensland floods

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

                Horrendous flooding... if this is typical of what is ahead it's going to take mega bucks to solve this problem.

                Alastair

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

                  I have been on and off the phone all day to my son & his family in Ipswich. My eldest grandson and his girlfriend just flew up to Brisbane last night....something which has been arranged for a few months. He's gone to visit his Dad and family.

                  This morning things didn't seem so bad but have quickly gone from bad to worse. My son went to work this morning and we weren't sure if he was going to be able to get home. So by noon after hearing various reports about the Bremer river being the first place the floods will hit I told my daughter in law to get out of the house and go to a hotel. The Bremer river runs at the back of their house and is only about 100 metres away and is already full to the top of the banks and lapping over.

                  It is actually fortunate that my 17 year old grandson and his girlfriend are there as my daughter in law wouldn't have been able to cope with getting all the children out of the house........and would you believe that their car has been broken down since Xmas and they haven't been able to get it fixed (everyone goes on holiday here at this time). Fortunately they caught up with my son at the railway station as he was trying to get home.

                  Daughter in law was saying that they could get onto the roof if need be. I said, get out NOW!

                  They don't have a credit card (and not much money), so I had to email my details to the hotel but at least I know they are safe. Hopefully their house wont be flooded too much. They have put as much as they could up high and switched off the electricity at the mains. Not worried about the floors as they are all tiled.

                  I think I'm going to have a few bacardi & cokes now.

                  Elda

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

                    Brisbane is in big trouble,i left work early today to be sure i could get home, however i'm not sure when i'll be able to go back to work. I live in the south eastern side of Brisbane on the coast and now work on the northside of Brisbane.The latest is the CBD is being inundated, the Brisbane river has broken it's banks in several places. My Head Office was evacuated, it is situated at West End, one of the areas expected to be worse hit. Wednesday and Thursday will be the days when we know just how bad this event will be, but already is tipped to exceed the 1974 flood levels.
                    Our main dam (Wivenhoe) is currently around 150% capacity, it can handle 200% of capacity for flood mitigation reasons, however the volume of water entering the dam is more that what can be safely released. The outcome is if the dam reaches 200% there is no option other than releasing more water, which in turn will increase the flood levels in and around Brisbane.
                    Where i live is Ok, no major worry apart for localized flooding.
                    Time to batten down the hatches...
                    Euan..

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

                      Euan,
                      It didn't worry me too much hearing that the Brisbane river had broken it's bank in places because I noticed at various times when I was up there that the banks weren't very high in some places.
                      What bothers me is when they talk about 22 metre highs and don't specify whether or not that's from where the river should be normally or, if it's after it's flooded.
                      Where Derek and family live in Wulkuraka there wasn't anything there in 1974 at the time of the last big flood. I tried to find photos of it on the internet and could only find one area I know which is higher than they are but was only flooded to a minor degree (road flooded but vehicles could still drive through carefully). One Mile Creek it's called on the way into Leichhardt and Wulkuraka.
                      I guess you managed to get home OK..:laugh2:

                      Elda

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

                        The following link demonstrates how and why the Wivenhoe dam was built. Basically, when it's at 100% it's only half full, the other 100% is for storing water from events that we are facing now. The important thing is not to let the dam overflow, as that could erode the dam, and cause much more devastation downstream. At the moment, SEQ Water, who manage the dam are carefully releasing water to make sure the water entering the dam has room. Should the dam erode and empty, it's goodbye Brisbane and anything else in it's path.
                        http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...11/3110758.htm
                        I did manage to get home OK, however i'm not sure if i will be going to work tomorrow, as Wednesday afternoon is tipped to be when the flooding could be at it's highest.
                        Euan..
                        Euan..

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

                          I am praying for everyone in Australia. It really looks frightening so I know the citizens' are having a very bad time! I hope relief comes very soon!
                          kellyd:redrose:

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

                            Hi Eaun,
                            just read on the BBC that Brisbane is to be evacuated. Does that include you?
                            My son-in-law arrived at his work on 4th Jan but they have not been able to do anything since he got there. He's quite a bit north of you but they have had mudslides and other such rain related issues.
                            Hope everyone is safe and this all passes soon.
                            Sandy

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Queensland Floods (Australia)

                              When they say inland tsunami, how does that happen? This is very very bad for all in Queensland! I hope there are no more loss of lives!
                              kellyd:redrose:

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