Queensland under water - Brisbane under threat

The flood crisis in Australia is extreme with 10 confirmed dead, more than 70 missing with grave fears held for 18, and the Queensland state capital, Brisbane, a city of 2 million, now threatened. The Brisbane River is bursting its banks in the CBD and Brisbane is being evacuated as they face the worst floods in 118 years.

Brisbane is Australia's 3rd largest city and hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 1988 World Expo. It is most likely the next Australian city to bid for the Olympic Games, possibly for 2020. Now, it faces a major disaster with the dams at capacity and the water level rising faster than anyone predicted.

The last time Brisbane flooded was 1974 and this flood is expected to be far worse. Worse even than the 1893 floods. Brisbane itself is expected to be inundated by Thursday.

Toowoomba, Grantham, Sunshine Coast and other communities are completely submerged. The flood crisis is slowly migrating South, threatening the Northern Rivers and North Cost of New South Wales, with flooding possible right down the East Coast as far as Tasmania and as far West as South Australia. It is possible that 5 states may be flood affected within the next week.

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/brisbane-prepares-for-worst-flood-in-118-years-20110111-19lvq.html