Death toll rises as bodies found

Houses and a bus stop on a suburban street are covered by flood water in Brisbane today. Photo / Getty Images

The official death toll from the flash flooding in the Toowoomba region west of Brisbane has risen to 12 with the discovery of two more bodies.

Both were men and were found at Grantham and near Lyons Bridge in the Lockyer Valley. One was found inside a residence and one was found in a creek, said Queensland premier Anna Bligh at a press conference this afternoon.

The death toll in the small Lockyer Valley town of Grantham could reach as high as 30, the

Toowoomba Chronicle

reports.

Emergency personnel are airlifting bodies from flooded paddocks and many residents are still missing.

A distraught Grantham local says he thought bodies being thrown about in turbulent floodwaters were trying to swim, until he realised they were dead.

"You saw arms, hands, grey hair, and that was it, by the time you knelt down you realise they're not swimming, they are already gone," Martin Warburton told the Seven network.

"I can't describe it, I just can't describe it."

Official number missing revised to 51

The official number of people listed as missing has now been revised to 51, after earlier being lowered from 90 to 67.

At a press conference this evening, Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said the number of people there were "grave concerns" for had also been reduced to nine, after an earlier peak of 18.

The revision comes as two people have been located in the Lockyer region after being swept away in an "inland tsunami" of flash flooding after a superstorm dumped 150mm of rain in 30 minutes.

Mr Atkinson could not provide details of the pair's survival, but said "one can only describe it as a miracle".

At a press conference this afternoon (NZT), Queensland premier Anna Bligh said search and rescue operations to find the missing could take several days.

The coroner has gone to the Lockyer Valley, where most of the recent deaths have been, as have eight specialist counselling teams.

Flooding is continuing across the state, with many towns were being flooded for the second time in 10 days, Ms Bligh said.

"We can draw inspiration from their resilience," she said.

3585 in evacuation centres across Queensland

Ms Bligh this afternoon said 3585 people were formally registered in 57 evacuation centres across Queensland, while thousands more would have gone to stay with friends and family.

Of those 3585 - which she called an "extraordinary number" - around 1500 were registered in Ipswich and 400 in Brisbane.

"We expect that number to grow as they rivers start to swell and peak this afternoon and overnight," Ms Bligh said.

One hundred thousand homes and businesses are now without power across the state. According to power provider Energex, 28,000 customers are without power in Ipswich and 58,100 in Brisbane.

3000 Ipswich homes under water

Three thousand Ipswich homes are under water and 1500 people have gone to evacuation centres.

Mayor Paul Pisasale told reporters 43 streets in the city had been closed.

A predicted flood peak of of 20.5 metres was expected around 4pm local time (7pm NZT). This exceeeds the 1974 level of 19.4 metres.

He said it was expected flood levels would recede 24 or 36 hours later.

Mr Pisasale said he had been overwhelmed by messages and offers of support which have flooded in from across the nation and the world.

"We're hoping the level will be revised down," he told reporters.

"What we're concerned about is people rushing back into their homes.

"We know that in the past, especially in 1974, there were a number of people electrocuted by not being aware whether the electricity has been disconnected."

Mr Pisasale said stories of people helping others filled him with immense pride in the city.

A volunteers register, listing people able to help where necessary, has been started in the city.

Earlier today, Mr Pisasale said up to 33 per cent of Ipswich could be underwater.

Parts of the Ipswich CBD were under water and some homes and businesses had water lapping at their rooftops, as a brown sea swept through the city.

Rows of shops, including a large supermarket in the middle of Ipswich, had only their awnings above the rising tide.

The Coles supermarket was under 2.5 metres of water, with only the store logo and its awning peaking out above the floodwaters.

Ipswich and surrounding suburbs have a population of 162,000 people.

Mayor Paul Pisasale told ABC Radio Queensland the situation in the city was "drastic".

Council workers said they had fielded more than 3000 telephone inquiries.

One was from a gentleman floating in a boat above his home's roof.

Ipswich councillor Paul Tully said the Goodna Shopping Centre, in east Ipswich, was already flooded.

It's "total chaos", he says, with water rising at one metre per hour on this morning.

Two Goodna service stations had been inundated and petrol was spilling into the floodwaters.

Brisbane under siege

Peaking river levels in Brisbane could have a devastating effect this evening.

City Mayor Campbell Newman said almost 20,000 homes in low-lying areas of the city of about 2 million were expected to be swamped by the time the river system it is built on reaches its expected peak tomorrow.

Tomorrow's high tide at 4am (7am NZT) is expected to take the river to 5.5m - above the levels of a catastrophic flood in 1974 in which 14 people died.

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for a livestreaming webcam of the Brisbane River in flood.

Mr Newman said 19,700 residential properties and 3500 commercial premises in 2100 streets are likely to be flooded in the city by Thursday, based on the latest flood modelling.

A further 12,000 expected to have flooding across part of their property.

A second evacuation centre opened in Brisbane at the QEII Stadium this morning, adding to the emergency accommodation provided at the RNA Showgrounds. 150 people stayed the night at the showgrounds last night and 184 people are there currently.

Three smaller evacuation centres have been established smaller in the city's southwest at the St Catherine Anglican Church and Salvation Army Church in Middle Park and the Good New Lutheran Church in Jamboree Heights, reports the

Brisbane Times

.

Mr Newman said up to 6,500 were expected to use the evacuation centres in coming days. Officials have urged anyone in a growing list of low-lying suburbs to prepare their homes, then get out to stay with friends and family.

Mr Newman said the council would review the situation to see whether further evacuation centres would need to be opened.

"Stay calm, but act wisely," Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson told reporters. "If you're in doubt, evacuate to friends or evacuate. Don't take unnecessary risks."

Some residents queued for up to four hours yesterday to get sandbags being handed out at emergency services depots. Supermarket shelves in some parts of town were emptied of bottled water, milk and batteries.

The Brisbane River has already broken its banks at Yeronga Corso, Jindalee and Toowong.

At a press conference this afternoon (NZT), Ms Bligh said debris, pontoons and boats coming down the Brisbane River were a "significant issue".

"We have salvage operations occurring so we don't see further damage from those objects hitting businesses and homes."

Popular floating restaurant Drift Cafe - formerly Oxley's on the River - broke away from its pontoon and began floating down the river this morning.

The

Brisbane Times

reports it is now almost completely submerged.

"[The restaurant] is very likely to sink sometime today. Salvage efforts were made yesterday, but in the interests of safety those efforts have now stopped," Premier Anna Bligh said this morning.

The city is protected by a large dam built after the 1974 floods. But Mr Newman said the reservoir was full, and a water release that would cause low-level flooding was inevitable.

The Port of Brisbane has been closed and is only open to emergency supplies.

"Biggest message to the people of the city of Brisbane and the city of Ipswich is to not travel if you do not have to," said Ms Bligh.

"This is not a tourism event, it is a serious disaster."

Ms Bligh said additional supplies of medicines have been brought into the state as the risk of disease spreading increases.

"We have not seen any large-scale public health issues," she said.

Police are advising that as both Brisbane and Ipswich, a city 40km south-west of Brisbane, are vastly different than they were 1974 - with more people, denser concentrations of housing and more high-rise apartments - far more people are likely to be affected by a similar water level to 1974.

200,000 affected by flooding

Queensland has been battling floods since late November.

The floods have affected more than 200,000 people, and left 22 dead (including 12 from flash-flooding this week).

According to Queensland police, other towns hit by flooding this week include Dalby, where 125 people are in the local evacuation centre.

Chinchilla faces a likely peak above that of 10 days ago and evacuations in Texas have started.

E-coli has been found in Chinchilla's water supply and residents are being told to boil water before drinking it.

While the river level at Rockhampton and Gympie is falling, the river level at Maryborough is rising and there is new flooding in Bundaberg.

Esk and Toogoolawah are both isolated by road.

Relentless storms and rain have grounded helicopters and specialist rescue teams and hindered clean-up work in areas where floodwaters have receded.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she had been shocked by images of devastating in the flood-hit areas.

"I think we've all been shocked by the images of that wall of water just wreaking such devastation (in Toowoomba) and I agree with you that when we hear the statistics about how many homes are going to be hit in Ipswich and here in Brisbane, the dimensions of it are truly mind-boggling," Ms Gillard said.

"We are bracing for further bad news," she said.

She promised financial aid to the victims and said the defence forces would continue to help with the crisis.

At a press conference this afternoon (NZT), Ms Gillard said the Defence Force would be providing seven more helicopters to help with search and rescue efforts.

Ms Bligh said last week the cost of the floods could be as high as $5 billion, the latest figure available.

The floods have also reached the bordering state of New South Wales, with about 4,500 people stranded, though the situation was not yet as dire as in Queensland.

- with the Queensland Times, Toowoomba Chronicle