Exodus from city center as Brisbane flood threat grows

Staff reporters
January 11, 2011 – 3:06PM Roads out of Brisbane are clogged as office workers seek to flee the city while the river breaches its banks at multiple locations. The Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre, formally ANZ Stadium, is being prepared as a possible evacuation centre. Eagle Street at the pier is now underwater, according to police. Police have advised there have been no forced evacuations in the CBD, however numerous employers have advised their workers to go home. A number of buildings in the CBD and Fortitude Valley have been evacuated, while West End residents have been urged to move to higher ground. The river has also reportedly breached its banks at New Farm and Auchenflower. North of the city, Caboolture has become completely isolated, while Strathpine residents are also being told to make for higher ground. Evacuations are also under way on Brisbane’s northside at Albion and Bowen Hills, the ABC reported. Roads are crowded and thousands of people are flocking to use public transport as the CBD empties. … “We urge people to plan their journey home carefully, and to leave plenty of time to get home before water cuts off a number roads in low-lying areas,” a police alert said. … Staff at Jellyfish restaurant and Boardwalk Bar and Bistro were pulling furniture and electrical appliances out of their restaurants on Eagle Street Pier this morning as they watched the river level rise. … ‘Wall of water’ heading for Wivenhoe Dam Authorities are conducting new modelling to see what the wall of water ripping through the Lockyer Valley will mean for Wivenhoe Dam, Premier Anna Bligh says, as Brisbane and south-east Queensland prepares for more severe weather today. Much of the deluge that fell in the Toowoomba region and is now ripping a path of devastation in the Lockyer Valley will move into the catchment of the Wivenhoe Dam system that feeds Brisbane. Ms Bligh warned large releases of water would be required from Wivenhoe Dam as a result of higher-than-expected inflows, with water then set to flow through the Brisbane River. …

CBD exodus as Brisbane flood threat grows