"There are full towns that are now unrecognizable." (radical, Brown)

[70Ford]

Australia's Brisbane a 'War Scene' as Flood Peaks - FoxNews.com

Jordan and Blake Rice were in the car with their mother, Donna, when a wall of water pummeled Toowoomba on Monday. After the torrent of water knocked one rescuer over, another man managed to reach the car, The Australian newspaper reported. At Jordan's insistence, he pulled Blake out first, according to a third brother, Kyle.

"Courage kicked in, and he would rather his little brother would live," the 16-year-old told the newspaper. Jordan and his mother were washed away before the men were able to get back to them.

One man died in Brisbane after being sucked into a storm drain by the muddy waters, Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said. Thousands of homes were swamped, and officials told residents it will be days before many of them can return to their houses. Others were told their homes will never be habitable again.

******************************************8

Australia Floods to Worsen; U.S. Offers Assistance - BusinessWeek


Good God, it's like a war zone. "an area the size of Germany and France combined under water"

[sanrene]

Here's what's tragic about it;

Queensland floods: but at least the 'endangered' Mary River cod is safe, eh? – Telegraph Blogs

Except EXACTLY the same floods occurred in EXACTLY the same places back in 1974, with much the same tragic loss of life and destruction of property.

Message to those in danger received six hours late

TENS of thousands of Queenslanders enduring Monday's flash flooding received the government's emergency warning messages hours after their area had been submerged under a deluge of brown, rushing water.

The messages, part of the National Emergency Warning System (NEWS), were sent after 8pm, six hours after Toowoomba took between 100 and 150 millimetres of rain in 30 minutes.

Alarming report on Brisbane River risks covered up | The Australian

A SECRET report by scientific and engineering experts warned of significantly greater risks of vast destruction from Brisbane River flooding - and raised grave concerns with the Queensland government and the city's council a decade ago.

But the recommendations in the report for radical changes in planning strategy, emergency plans and transparency about the true flood levels for Brisbane were rejected and the report was covered up.

[GregW]

Sounds like the Tennessee River before the TVA put it to work.