Brisbane River peaking below 1974 level
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The Brisbane River has peaked at just over 4.45 metres, under the 1974 flood level, say authorities who are warning that this peak will still be devastating.
Premier Anna Bligh has warned that Brisbane residents will wake on Thursday to "shocking" flood scenes despite the peak being downgraded to below the 1974 peak of 5.45 metres.
She said Brisbane had developed significantly since 1974 and that there were many more built-up areas that would be affected by flooding now compared to then.
Brisbane City Council for road closures and potential flooding. Visit the Bureau of Meteorology for forecasts, warnings and the latest weather.
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The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said the river level at 3.30am (AEST) on Thursday "was 4.45 metres and rising with the high tide".
"A peak slightly above this level is expected in the next few hours."
The bureau said earlier on Thursday that the downgraded peak, to below 5.0 metres, was due to releases at Wivenhoe Dam being reduced quickly during Tuesday night.
The bureau said river levels will remain high throughout Thursday.
Authorities had earlier expected the river to peak at 5.2m at the 4am (AEST) high tide on Thursday, down from an even earlier forecast of 5.5m.
ENERGEX said 125,000 homes and businesses would on Thursday be without power in southeast Queensland - almost 80,000 in the greater Brisbane area, 30,000 in Ipswich and surrounding suburbs, 4,200 in the Lockyer Valley, and pockets around Redcliffe, Gympie, Logan and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
Ms Bligh said it would still test Brisbane with flooding expected to affect 36,000 homes and businesses.
"Brisbane will go to sleep tonight and wake up to scenes that they have, many of them, never seen anything like in their lives," Ms Bligh told reporters late on Wednesday.
Sleepless night for flooded Brisbane
Rising floodwaters have now inundated 35 suburbs in Brisbane, prompting mass evacuations and chaos in the CBD as roads were cut and power and other essential services were shut down.
Hundreds of Brisbane residents have been forced to relocate to evacuation centres, with authorities predicting the figure to rise dramatically and have boosted capacity from 6,500 to 16,000.
Some 14,600 homes and 2,800 businesses are predicted to be completely flooded by the end of the event, possibly mimicking scenes in St Lucia and New Farm, where whole streets were submerged.
"Brisbane will go to sleep tonight and wake up to scenes that they have, many of them, never seen anything like in their lives," Ms Bligh told reporters late on Wednesday.
Drama revisited the 20 evacuees who had taken shelter at the Yeronga State School after it lost power.
They had to be relocated to the temporary digs at QE II stadium.
The CBD has been left a "ghost town" according to Ms Bligh, with shops, offices and buildings closed, 106 roads blocked and public transport running on limited services.
It is predicted 1,657 roads will end up either partially or completely flooded.
Energex began shutting down power in parts of the CBD early on Wednesday morning as a safety precaution, while thousands more residences around the city were also without electricity.
A Tennyson bulk substation was hit with water late on Wednesday, resulting in a temporary outage affecting more than 50,000 in Brisbane's inner-west.
Late on Wednesday 155,000 Queenslanders were without power.
Debris in the raging Brisbane River has captured the attention of emergency crews, who will work into the night to secure at least three large objects that are threatening to come loose.
An anchor will be helicoptered in to secure the Moggill Ferry, while a special team of navy divers are being flown in from Sydney to work out what to do with the Island party boat.
Officials will also work through the night breaking apart the popular floating walkway near New Farm, which will then be disposed of.
Hundreds lined Kangaroo Point throughout the day to take photos and point out boats, pontoons, even a riverside restaurant - the now-appropriately named Drift Cafe - which became floating hazards.
Brisbane hospitals have ceased all non-urgent surgery, although emergency departments are still being staffed.
No one has been spared in the disaster, with garbage collections suspended for a week, phone lines affected and Australia Post warning of significant delays across the state.
There were also fears that the water supply will run out or be contaminated, but Ms Bligh was confident that the southeast corner of the state will get all the drinking water it needs.
The state government issued an urgent warning to residents, telling them to beware of solar panels that might have become live because of the floodwaters.
Brisbane City Council believes it may take up to 12 hours for the waters to recede.
Brisbane faces floods clear-up of "post-war proportions"
Deadly floods in Australia's third-biggest city were peaking on Thursday below the levels Brisbane had feared, but the state premier said they would require a reconstruction effort of "post-war proportions."
The floods have so far killed at least 17 people, left 43 missing and caused billions of dollars of damage in Queensland state. One central bank economist has warned that it could cut the GDP measure of national income by as much as 1 percent.
"The Brisbane river has now reached its peak," police said in a statement, as an official weather bureau flood gauge in the centre of the city of two million showed a depth of 4.45 metres.
That was below earlier expected highs of above 5 metres and less than a peak in 1974 of 5.45 metres which caused massive damage and loss of life.
The swollen river was moving rapidly and filled with debris, after bursting its banks and engulfing large districts of the city a day earlier. Power has been cut in 116,000 homes due to concerns the waters could cause electrocutions.
"This is going to be a long recovery. This morning as I look across not only the capital city, but three-quarters of my state, we are facing a reconstruction effort of post-war proportions," state Premier Anna Bligh told Australian radio.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said while many areas of the financial district were still inundated, the lower than expected peak would save around 8,000 properties.
"We all now have to rally together to help these people clean up, the ones that have suffered impacts," Newman told Australian television.
Brisbane faces floods clear-up of "post-war proportions"Ed Davies, Reuters
January 13, 2011, 9:41 am 1 Comment
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Have you been affected, or would you like to leave a message for those caught up in the floods? Leave your comments below.
Deadly floods in Australia's third-biggest city were peaking on Thursday below the levels Brisbane had feared, but the state premier said they would require a reconstruction effort of "post-war proportions."
The floods have so far killed at least 17 people, left 43 missing and caused billions of dollars of damage in Queensland state. One central bank economist has warned that it could cut the GDP measure of national income by as much as 1 percent.
"The Brisbane river has now reached its peak," police said in a statement, as an official weather bureau flood gauge in the centre of the city of two million showed a depth of 4.45 metres.
That was below earlier expected highs of above 5 metres and less than a peak in 1974 of 5.45 metres which caused massive damage and loss of life.
The swollen river was moving rapidly and filled with debris, after bursting its banks and engulfing large districts of the city a day earlier. Power has been cut in 116,000 homes due to concerns the waters could cause electrocutions.
"This is going to be a long recovery. This morning as I look across not only the capital city, but three-quarters of my state, we are facing a reconstruction effort of post-war proportions," state Premier Anna Bligh told Australian radio.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said while many areas of the financial district were still inundated, the lower than expected peak would save around 8,000 properties.
"We all now have to rally together to help these people clean up, the ones that have suffered impacts," Newman told Australian television.
Queensland weather radar
Brisbane weather radar
Queensland weather warnings
MAP: Suburbs at risk
Brisbane City Council for road closures and potential flooding. Visit the Bureau of Meteorology for forecasts, warnings and the latest weather.
More flood info at brisbanefloodinfo.com
Call 180 22 66 for emergency payments
Flood information hotline: 1300 993 191
Flood crisis: What you need to know
The revised flood figure, he said, indicated 11,900 properties would be fully flooded and another 14,700 partially affected. These included 2,500 businesses that would be completely inundated.
And while drinking water supplies in the city were safe and secure, Newman there had been damage to sewage pumping plants on the city's outskirts, which posed a threat of infection.
Power officials said they were planning to bring in large generators to restore power in the city centre as soon as the water cleared.
"In the CBD (central business district), we've got about 10 blocks without power. That will be probably about another 3-4 days," said Mike Swanston of power provider Energex.
The city woke up to bright sunshine on Thursday and several hundred people had gathered on a vantage point above the river to take photographs of the floods at first light. Many factories and homes had only their rooflines visible.
Authorities were also struggling to secure or break up three large objects or vessels on the Brisbane River.
A rescue helicopter is due to fly in a 1.5 tonne anchor at first light to secure a ferry that had broken its guide lines and was seen as a potential hazard.
TV footage also showed a tug boat trying to secure a huge concrete walkway that was ripped from the banks of the river during the floods.
Miraculous survival amid floods tragedy
Two people earlier feared dead after being swept away in Lockyer Valley floodwaters were found alive in what Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described as "the most miraculous of circumstances".
"Both of those people were literally swept away by floodwater," Mr Atkinson said.
"There was every reason to believe that they may have lost their lives."
Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said recovery teams were searching buildings "completely destroyed" by floodwaters, and combing trees, creeks and cars for bodies.
"Our hope is that we actually might find some survivors but the chances of that are quite remote," he said.
Brisbane resembled a ghost town as residents evacuated and workers stayed home with power cut to many parts of the CBD.
A total of 14,600 homes and 2,800 businesses are expected to be flooded and at least 50 suburbs affected.
At Ipswich, the Bremer River peaked below expected levels but a third of the city is under water.
Authorities said the peak came in at 19.5 metres, slightly below the 1974 level, and well under the original prediction of a peak of 22 metres.
But Ms Bligh warned the damage was likely to be worse in both Brisbane and Ipswich than in 1974, given the two cities are now so much larger and more densely populated.
"I think we've still got our hardest times ahead of us," Ms Bligh told reporters in Brisbane.
The official death toll rose with the discovery of the bodies of two men in the Lockyer Valley on Wednesday afternoon, one at a home at Grantham and another in a creek at Lyons Bridge.
The toll does not include a man in his 50s whose body was found in a car in the Ipswich suburb of Wulkuraka on Wednesday.
Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said it appeared the driver accidentally turned into floodwaters.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who visited evacuees at Brisbane's RNA Showgrounds, said more defence force personnel and aircraft were being sent in to respond to Queensland's flood crisis.
"Queensland has already faced some dark days and there are dark days still ahead. But Australia is standing with you ...," she said.
Late on Wednesday night about 155,000 people in southeast Queensland were without power.
The southern regional centres of Dalby and Chinchilla, to Brisbane's west, are again in the grip of floodwaters, less than two weeks after homes and businesses were inundated in both communities.
And the township of Condamine has been evacuated for a second time as more floods hit there.
7News will provide rolling coverage of the Queensland flood disaster throughout the day bringing you the latest from the scene.
