Flash floods hit Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane
By Michael Perry; Editing by Alex Richardson
Sun Jan 9, 2011 7:38pm EST SYDNEY Jan 10 (Reuters) – Residents of low-lying parts of Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane, sandbagged their homes against rising waters on Monday as torrential rain exacerbated record floods that have paralysed the coal industry in the northeast and now threaten tourism. Weather officials issued a severe weather alert, warning of flash flooding and worsening river floods in Queensland state’s heavily populated southeast and the centre of the country’s lucrative Gold Coast tourist strip. “People need to think about how to get out and if you don’t need to travel, stay off the roads,” said Police Chief Superintendent Alistair Dawson. The worst floods in 50 years, affecting an area the size of France and Germany combined, began last month and have severely cut Queensland’s $20 billion coking coal export industry, starving Asian steel mills of coal and pushing up world prices. … The weather bureau forecast monsoonal rains would continue for the rest of the week, giving flooded towns little respite as some residents clean-up and others build levees to stop floodwaters. The fresh heavy rains were causing flash flooding, quickly cutting off some small towns and flooding homes and businesses. … A major concern now is the ground is so waterlogged the heavy rains are unable to be absorbed and full rivers, creeks and man-made watercourses are bursting their banks. …
