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Massive floods have shut down the center of Australia's third-largest city, Brisbane, causing thousands to flee their homes and frenzied buying of food and supplies while rescuers searched for 43 people missing. Australia's biggest floods in a century have so far killed 16 people since they spread across the state of Queensland last month, crippling the coking coal industry, destroying infrastructure and halting the local economy. The flood surge is expected to peak in Brisbane, a riverside city of 2 million people, before sunrise today but is expected to last for days. "We are in the grip of a very serious natural disaster," Queensland state premier Anna Bligh said, predicting almost 20,000 homes could be flooded. The peak of the floods hit Ipswich, a satellite town to the west, late Wednesday, with more than 1,500 Ipswich residents being evacuated while others fled with the clothes on their back as the waters rose. Brisbane residents Wednesday pushed food-laden shopping carts through submerged streets, others waded in shoulder-high water to res-cue possessions, while boats and pontoons were ripped from moorings in the Brisbane River and smashed into bridges as the muddy brown tide gathered strength. Economists have raised their estimates of the economic impact of the flooding, with one central bank board member saying Wednesday the disaster could shave 1 percent off national growth, or equivalent to almost $13 billion, double the previous highest estimate. Australia exports more than half of the world's coking coal, which is used in steel manufacturing, and the country is also the second-biggest exporter of thermal coal used for power generation. "The coal industry will take several weeks, and in some cases, months, to get back to full production," Bligh said. Food prices are surging around the country as the floods ruined Queensland crops and distribution networks. Prices for tomatoes have jumped 200 percent in two weeks, while beef is up 11 percent. Rescue crews used a rare spot of sunshine to look for 43 people still missing. "Some of the houses have exploded with the force of the water. People have been washed away. It will take days to complete this search and recovery," Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said. Reuters |
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