AUSTRALIA’S “BIBILICAL” flood has claimed its first victim when a woman was swept away in her car as authorities warn that waters have yet to peak in one of the worst-affected areas of Queensland.
As further thunderstorms were forecast across the region, bringing the potential for flash flooding, residents of the city of Rockhampton braced themselves for the Fitzroy river to reach its peak in the next 48 hours.
An area the size of France and Germany combined has been hit by the flooding of three river systems. More than 200,000 people in 20 towns and cities have been affected.
The woman (41) who drowned was trying to cross a flooded causeway when her car was swept into a river in Burketown, western Queensland, on Saturday. Her body was recovered yesterday about a mile away, Queensland police said. Two other people are feared drowned.
“It may not look dangerous or too deep but it only takes 60cm to wash a car off the road,” said Iain MacKenzie, acting commissioner of Queensland’s fire and rescue service. “We cannot spell the dangers more clearly – people are risking their lives by entering floodwaters,” he added.
In Rockhampton, many residents have already fled low-lying areas and up to 40 per cent of the city is expected to be affected.
Evacuee Reg Wilson said he did not want to leave his home but police told him he had no choice. “A man came along in a car with a gun on his hip and said ‘you need to be out of here by 5 o’clock’. When a man with a gun talks to you like that, you get out.”
Rockhampton, a tourism centre about 560km north of Brisbane, is home to 75,000 people. After the peak, the town is expected to remain flooded for up to two weeks. The river was last night 8.9 metres (29ft) above its normal height and is expected to peak on Wednesday at 9.4 metres, making it the second worst flood on record.
More rain is forecast and towns and cities downstream are preparing for the floods to reach them. “In some places, we’re still days or even more than a week away from floodwaters reaching some places,” said Bruce Grady of Queensland emergency management. “There’s a concern that these big river systems are very charged and flowing very quickly and we’re unsure as to whether they may totally destroy some homes in their path,” he said.
Rockhampton sits near the mouth of the Fitzroy river system, one of Australia’s largest, carrying the water from last week’s rains down the coast.
The Australian Red Cross has warned people that this flood is going to be a long haul and asked them to come the evacuation centre with up to 10 days worth of clothes as well as medicines and prescriptions.
A military airlift will begin today to restock the city’s supermarkets. Hercules aircraft will fly supplies to the nearby city of Mackay, four hours drive north of Rockhampton, from where they will be brought in by road.
The clean-up and damage bill is expected to reach billions of dollars, with many losing their homes and their livelihoods. “In many ways, it is a disaster of biblical proportions,” Queensland’s treasurer, Andrew Fraser, said in the flooded city of Bundaberg.
Industry is also being heavily affected. “The mining industry is losing something in the order of A$100 million a day,” Mr Grady said. One mine had water 110 metres deep in it