Weather Watch: Worst yet to come for Queensland

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service swift water rescue crew evacuates residents stranded by the flooding. Photo / The Chronicle

Back on January 1 authorities said Queensland was facing a flood of "biblical proportions". Now, almost two weeks later, and it's hard to fathom that the "worst is yet to come" as unprecedented flooding hits the drought ravaged region.

As the flood waters moved into small towns many of us haven't heard of before, the story wasn't really capturing the minds of many New Zealanders. However in the past few days that has all changed with major flood waters making their way into the big places. Yesterday Brisbane's CBD was evacuated as flood waters started to spill over into the state's capital and an incredible flash flood hit the city of Toowoomba.

We found this amazing flash flood video from yesterday - it is a must see. It was this flash flooding that lead to dozens of people going missing and caused a number of deaths - that death toll is likely to climb further today.

Not only is Queensland facing days, weeks, if not months of rain due to La Nina, the region is also being affected by severe thunderstorms, creating additional flooding.

The flooding has been going since Christmas and still the worst is yet to come. These floods are on a catastrophic scale and the only positive that I can see is that due to Australia missing out on the worldwide recession they are hopefully better prepared financially than other nations.

For the farmers - who have faced several years of drought - this may be the final straw. Farming is tough enough in Australia but this really is quite severe and may be enough to see many farmers leaving the region, retiring, or leave the state altogether.

On top of the painstaking floods, think of the crocodiles, spiders and snakes that are also desperately trying to find dry ground ... and the dry ground is becoming increasingly sparse.

The people I have spoken to in Brisbane say they are safe and dry, but added on "it's early days yet".

Queensland, the "Sunshine State" that is now underwater, may also create a shift in some people's feelings towards climate change. Those against it may now feel understand what scientists have been warning about for the past decade - that we are likely to see more and more severe weather events. There will be sceptics - and I don't want to get in to this debate as it just goes around and around and around. But I'm certain there will be farmers in Queensland - and here in New Zealand - who are perhaps rethinking their personal feelings on climate change.

Australia is a wealthy country, and they will get through this. However if you'd like to donate money, to immediately help local authorities deal with this disaster, you'll find all the details here.