 This image shows flood waters swamping a shopping center in the city of Toowoomba, Australia. AFP photo |
Military helicopters searched Tuesday for scores of people missing after a tsunami-like wall of water ripped through an Australian valley, tossing cars like toys in the deadliest episode of a weekslong flood crisis.
At least ten people were killed and 78 still unaccounted for almost 24 hours after the flash flood hurled untold millions of gallons of water down Queensland state's Lockyer Valley on Monday, state Premier Anna Bligh said. Authorities had grave fears for at least 18 of the missing, she said.
The valley funneled rain from a freak storm - forecasters estimated up to 6 inches (150 millimeters) fell in half an hour near Toowoomba city - into a stream that formed a path of destruction, lifting houses from foundations.
The torrent slowed and spread out as it moved downstream toward the state capital of Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city with some 2 million people. The Brisbane River overflowed its banks Tuesday and officials warned that thousands of houses in dozens of low-lying neighborhoods and parts of the downtown area could be inundated by Thursday.
"This is a truly dire set of circumstances for the people of Queensland, with more flooding to come," Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television. She said she had been "absolutely shocked" by television footage of Monday's flash flood.
The violent surge near Toowoomba on Monday escalated Australia's flood crisis in Queensland state and brought the overall death toll to 20. Until then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen rivers burst their banks and inundated towns while moving downstream toward the ocean.
Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley, and thousands moved out of were being evacuated. In one small community in the path of the floodwaters, Forest Hill, the entire population of about 300 was airlifted to safety in military helicopters, Bligh said.
In Ipswich, a town of 15,000 people between Toowoomba and Brisbane, hundreds of residents moved in with friends and family or into an evacuation center on high ground as officials warned the swollen Bremer River would flood dozens of homes overnight Tuesday, Mayor Paul Pisasale said.
As Tuesday progressed, the death toll rose from eight to ten. At an evening afternoon news conference, Bligh said officials held grave fears for 18 of the 78 people missing. She did not elaborate.
The search and rescue effort was being hampered by thunderstorms and more driving rain, though the bad weather eased during the day and Bligh said the search would get easier on Wednesday.
At least ten people were killed and 78 still unaccounted for almost 24 hours after the flash flood hurled untold millions of gallons of water down Queensland state's Lockyer Valley on Monday, state Premier Anna Bligh said. Authorities had grave fears for at least 18 of the missing, she said.
The valley funneled rain from a freak storm - forecasters estimated up to 6 inches (150 millimeters) fell in half an hour near Toowoomba city - into a stream that formed a path of destruction, lifting houses from foundations.
The torrent slowed and spread out as it moved downstream toward the state capital of Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city with some 2 million people. The Brisbane River overflowed its banks Tuesday and officials warned that thousands of houses in dozens of low-lying neighborhoods and parts of the downtown area could be inundated by Thursday.
"This is a truly dire set of circumstances for the people of Queensland, with more flooding to come," Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television. She said she had been "absolutely shocked" by television footage of Monday's flash flood.
The violent surge near Toowoomba on Monday escalated Australia's flood crisis in Queensland state and brought the overall death toll to 20. Until then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen rivers burst their banks and inundated towns while moving downstream toward the ocean.
Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley, and thousands moved out of were being evacuated. In one small community in the path of the floodwaters, Forest Hill, the entire population of about 300 was airlifted to safety in military helicopters, Bligh said.
In Ipswich, a town of 15,000 people between Toowoomba and Brisbane, hundreds of residents moved in with friends and family or into an evacuation center on high ground as officials warned the swollen Bremer River would flood dozens of homes overnight Tuesday, Mayor Paul Pisasale said.
As Tuesday progressed, the death toll rose from eight to ten. At an evening afternoon news conference, Bligh said officials held grave fears for 18 of the 78 people missing. She did not elaborate.
The search and rescue effort was being hampered by thunderstorms and more driving rain, though the bad weather eased during the day and Bligh said the search would get easier on Wednesday.
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