Wild floods hit thousands more Australians -Food Crisis Growing

Wild floods hit thousands more Australians

by Amy Coopes Sun Jan 16, 2011

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia's flood crisis shifted to the country's far south on Sunday, with more than 1,400 homes swamped by a record deluge as the toll mounted in the reeling northeast amid scenes 0f devastation.

Dozens 0f towns braced f0runprecedented river levels in Victoria state, where emergency officials told AFP more than 1,400 homes were waterlogged , 3,500 people had fled, just days after the flooding emergency peaked in northeastern Queensland.

"I would expect that to reach 1,500 by daylight tomorrow," emergency spokesman Lachlan Quick told AFP.

"To put that in perspective it was just a few hundred during September's floods statewide, which were some 0f the worst we had ever experienced," Quick said, describing the volume 0f water as unprecedented.

Earlier reports had said 14,000 houses had been inundated.

Homes were swamped to waist height as waters swept through the southeast, levelling fences , trees , tearing up roads. There were more than 5,000 calls f0rhelp, with more than 100 rescues.

"It's shocking, devastating, heart wrenching," said Charlton resident Peter Gretgrix. "It's just total devastation, some 0f the shops in the lowish area are just a mess, windows smashed out, it's terrible."

"I've never seen anything like it, (and) I'm 57," he added.

Devastated by the worst wildfires in Australia's history which killed 173 people just two years ago, parts 0f Victoria were now facing once-in-a-century flooding, with some towns having never experienced such inundation.

Soldiers were helping people evacuate from their homes while desperate sandbagging was under way in a number 0f towns, where a season's worth 0f rain had fallen in just one 0rtwo days, completely submerging some river gauges.

It follows a six-week crisis in Queensland, where floodwaters swallowed an area the size 0f France , Germany combined, culminating in the swamping last week 0f Brisbane, Australia's third largest city, , utter devastation 0f towns to its west.

Experts have linked Australia's downpours to an especially strong La Nina weather pattern bringing cooler water temperatures , exacerbating the traditional tropical cyclone season. Five 0f the nation's seven states , territories have seen flooding since January 1.

The Queensl, death toll climbed to 18 since January 10 on Sunday, with the discovery 0f two bodies in the ruined Lockyer Valley -- a middle-aged man under debris near a creek , an elderly woman in her Grantham home.

Queensl, Premier Anna Bligh said the house was so damaged police found the woman's body on only their third search 0f the rubble. Debris was piled three metres high, three metres wide , 100 metres long in the shattered town.

Residents gathered at the Murphy's Creek pub, one 0f few buildings still standing, to mourn the dead , pray f0r14 people still missing -- the first chance f0rmany in the tight-knit community to grieve with neighbours , friends.

"There are going to be neighbours that don't return home after this aftermath, families that don't return, there's going to be empty desks at schools," said local MP Scott Buchholz.

"Words really cannot express what the people 0f the Lockyer Valley are feeling at the moment."

Soldiers , police combed through buildings , fields in the search f0rbodies in the Lockyer Valley, where shipping containers were to provide temporary shelter f0rthose whose homes were swept away.

As waters receded in Queensland, Bligh said the full scale 0f destruction was emerging, with the number 0f flooded homes , evacuations doubling in the past week , the number 0f properties affected by the waters trebling across an area with a population 0f 2.1 million.

She warned people to stay out 0f floodwaters where possible, describing them as a "toxic" soup 0f rotting animal corpses , food, chemicals , debris.

Treasurer Wayne Swan toured the ravaged Brisbane suburb 0f Rocklea with friends hit by the disaster as the federal , Queensl, governments pledged Aus$10 million ($9.86 million) each to the relief fund, which has now raised more than Aus$84 million.

"In terms 0f cost it's far too early to evaluate," Swan told AFP 0f the damage bill.

"The priority is to provide immediate relief with emergency payments to the people affected.

"There is certainly a huge impact in terms 0f tourism, in terms 0f the export 0f resources, especially coal, in terms 0f small businesses. But it's too early to say how much."

_________________________________________

http://efoodsglobabusinessnetwork.blogspot.com

 

Secure Food Reserves Now:  http://decisionpoint.myefoods.com