Two people were missing and the body of a third person was recovered from raging floodwaters as severe storms pounded northeastern Australia yesterday, forcing more than 1,000 to flee their homes.
Army aircraft were deployed in the northern state of Queensland, where storms generated by former tropical cyclone Oswald unleashed punishing rains and localized tornadoes and floodwaters threatened several major towns.
One woman was plucked to safety in Biloela, 600km northwest of the state capital Brisbane, after spending eight hours clinging to a tree.
Photo: EPA
At Gympie, north of Brisbane, three families had been forced to retreat to the roofs of their homes and had been awaiting rescue for more than seven hours after helicopters could not reach them due to the winds, Gympie Mayor Ron Dyne said.
A 27-year-old man was missing after he tried to cross a swollen creek near Gympie and Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said there were serious concerns for another young woman.
“Emergency services are searching for a young woman who reportedly drove into waters near Pacific Haven this morning, and we have grave fears for her safety,” Newman told reporters.
Separately, police said the body of an elderly man who went to check on a yacht had been recovered from waters north of Bundaberg, where the engorged Burnett River broke its banks and was expected to engulf 300 homes.
Bundaberg was among dozens of towns devastated by floods in Queensland two years ago which claimed 35 lives. Newman said residents there were bracing for the river to peak above 9m, well in excess of the 7.92m seen in 2011.
Further north at Gladstone, about 900 homes had been evacuated and several towns in the region were already isolated by the rising waters.
Across the state about 58,000 homes were without power and that number was growing by the hour, according to Newman.
“We are right in the middle of this now, I can hear it bucketing down on the roof as we speak,” he said.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the emergency had revived “memories of the floods of two summers ago” which she said were “still fresh.”
The Insurance Council of Australia declared a statewide catastrophe, noting there had already been “severe inundation ... in several towns and cities” and that major flood warnings had been issued.
“Unfortunately, this catastrophe declaration is the result of the first cyclone to come close to the coast this season, and the weather bureau has warned it’s highly possible we will see more before the end of summer,” council chief Rob Whelan said.
At least one international flight was diverted from Brisbane to Sydney due to the high winds and Qantas canceled a number of domestic services, with the Sunshine Coast regional airport shut down.
A staggering 1m to 1.5m of rain was estimated to have fallen since the storms began.
Brisbane was expected to be spared the kind of flooding seen two years ago, with officials predicting 3,600 homes and 1,250 businesses will be inundated, none in the central city.
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