With the confirmed death of a young boy, the death toll has risen overnight to ten. And the reported missing has jumped to over 90.
Since yesterday morning, Queenslanders have made a total of 32,000 calls for help.
The capitol of Brisbane has basically shut down with suburbs being evacuated, the central business district being shut down and over 100,000 without power as the power conmpanies are forced to shut off power.
The river is supposed to peak tomorrow and it is likely that this will be worse than the 1974 floods which caused considerable damage and cost billions to repair.
After basically wiping out a number of smaller towns, the floodwaters are now entering the city of Brisbane. Watching the live stream of Channel Nine, I personally saw a caravan and a bunch of yachts come crashing down in the Brisbane River in Brisbane itself.
http://today.ninemsn.com.au/...
Officials say that 40,000 properties could be affected in Brisbane alone. A staggering SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT of Queensland is affected.
Up to a third of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, will go under when the Bremer River reaches a record peak today, Mayor Paul Pisasale says.
Ipswich has awoken to the blessing of blue skies today as the city awaits its biggest ever flood peak.
The floodwaters have already inundated whole blocks of the CBD ahead of the peak of 20.5m expected about 11am.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/...
http://www.abc.net.au/...
There have been some horrendous stories such as this one:
Jordan Rice, 13, and his mother were killed when an 8m wall of water swept through the town on Monday afternoon. At least eight other people were killed as the torrent tore through the centre of Toowoomba and surged down through the Lockyer Valley.
Jordan's father, John Tyson, said Jordan's mother Donna Rice and her two sons became trapped in rapidly rising floodwaters in Toowoomba's CBD when their car engine failed at an intersection, The Chronicle reports.
The water, described as an "inland tsunami", rose so quickly that Ms Rice, Jordan and 10-year-old Blake were forced to scramble onto the car's roof.
"All these people were just standing around until an old scrawny guy grabbed a bit of rope, wrapped it around himself and jumped in," Mr Tyson said.
"Jordan can't swim and is terrified of water," said Mr Tyson.
"But when the man went to rescue him, he said 'save my brother first.'"
The man managed to bring Blake through the surging water but moments later Jordan and his mother were swept off the car.
They were seen clinging to a tree but the water current was too strong and they were washed away.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/...
In the midst of all the heartache and tragedy comes this story:
Computer technician Armin Gerlach was visiting friends in the flood-hit town of Dalby, located in the state's south-east, last week when he spotted the unlikely pair.
"I felt amazement, I just couldn’t believe it," Mr Gerlach told ninemsn.
What he saw was a frog getting a ride on a snake, trying to escape the flood waters.
http://news.msn.co.nz/...
Great to see animals working with each other to escape the floods... and the same thing is happening with people all over Queensland and Australia, people are sending money and volunteering to help.
The people of Queensland need every bit of it.
Update:
Massive flooding now in the suburbs of Brisbane. Death toll has risen to 12.