Australia floods: Brisbane residents urged to evacuate
Baku, January 11 (AZERTAC). The authorities are urging people in Australia`s third largest city, Brisbane, to evacuate it in parts as it faces its worst flooding in decades.
The city`s mayor has warned that 6,500 homes and businesses are set to flood.
Flash floods have left nine dead and at least 70 missing nearby. The waters are rising fast; one local official said he saw the river level go up by 1.5m (4ft 10in) in just an hour. Some 200,000 people have been affected across the state by the floods. The flooding has caused billions of dollars worth of damage.
The Brisbane River snakes its way through the centre of the Queensland state capital, and in places it has burst its banks already, says BBC Australia correspondent Nick Bryant. Cars have been streaming out of the city and office workers have been fleeing the main business district, while lower lying suburbs have already been inundated by water. Sandbags have been given out to residents in the city of two million people, as the flooding is expected to peak on Wednesday and Thursday.
Mayor Campbell Newman warned 6,500 homes, businesses and other properties were likely to be flooded by Thursday.
"Today is very significant, tomorrow is bad, and Thursday is going to be devastating for the residents and businesses affected," he said.
State Premier Anna Bligh urged people to prepare themselves: "For those who are living in some of the lower lying areas and the identified suburbs, now is the time to be making whatever preparations you can, and I would encourage you to be overly cautious.
In Toowoomba, just west of Brisbane, flash floods killed at least nine people with at least 70 missing.
A raging torrent of water hit Toowoomba on Monday without warning, following more than 36 hours of incessant rain.
A huge search-and-rescue operation was mounted, with helicopters winching people to safety, as many residents clinging to trees or railings for their lives, or trapped in cars or on the roofs of buildings.
At least two of the dead were children, and Prime Minister Julia Gillard has warned that the death toll is likely to rise.
Ms Bligh called the flash floods Queensland`s "darkest hour" since the floods began at the end of November.
"This has been a night of extraordinary events," Ms Bligh told a news conference on Tuesday.
"We`ve seen acts of extreme bravery and courage from our emergency workers. We know they`re out on the front line desperately trying to begin their search and rescue efforts, and we know we have people stranded and people lost," she said.
She called the event "a complete freak of nature", saying the flooding had come "out of nowhere".
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