Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded on Sunday in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge.
Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser described the floods as a "disaster of biblical proportions" and said the ultimate cost would exceed A$1 billion ($980 million). The town of Rockhampton, 600 km (370 miles) north of the state capital, Brisbane, and with a population of 77,000, was cut off, with 40 percent of its houses expected to be flooded in coming days in waters over 30 feet deep.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has said flood waters in the town could reach nine metres (30 feet) on Monday and peak at 9.4 metres on Wednesday, a level similar to floods that hit in 1991 and 1954. Parts of tropical Queensland could remain cut off for days by the floods, which have had a devastating impact on the state's economy, with coal mining and farming particularly badly hit.
One person was confirmed dead, a 41-year-old woman who disappeared when her car tried to cross the flooded inland Leichhardt River. Police said her body had been found about two km away. The rain has eased, but the waters are gradually working their way down the state's river systems to the coast. Roads and rail links have been cut along the east coast, while Rockhampton, at the mouth of the Fitzroy River, was slowly being inundated. Flood waters have already reached 8.8 metres in parts.