Lord Mayor warns 6500 homes and businesses around Brisbane will go under as the city's flood crisis worsens 
 
 BRISBANE'S Lord Mayor Campbell Newman is predicting 6500 properties will be flooded across the city. 
 
 Cr Newman says the next few days will see a large-scale disaster unfolding across the city, ahead of an expected peak in the Brisbane River on Thursday. 
 
 Office workers are streaming out of Brisbane's CBD as the Brisbane River breaks its banks with floods greater than 1974 expected to hit the southeast. 
 
 Flood waters are heading towards Brisbane, with residents warned to prepare for a major flood as office workers and shoppers leave the CBD. 
 
 There have been no forced evacuations in Brisbane, although the flood situation is rapidly worsening. 
 
 
 
 Traffic is building up in and around Brisbane as people try to get home in the ongoing rain. 
 
 
 
 The Myer Centre in Brisbane's CBD has been evacuated and will close its doors due to possible flooding. Westpac Bank also shut 39 branches in flood affected areas of the city and the state's southeast. 
 
 The Regatta Hotel in Toowong is being sandbagged and the nearby Drift floating restaurant has been swamped in rising floodwaters. 
 
 
 
 Police are urging residents in Red Hill to take care after reports of rocks falling on the roof of the Catholic Church in Musgrave Rd. 
 
 
 
 Traffic is streaming out of the city as office blocks in Eagle and Wharf streets and restaurants along South Bank are evacuated. Congestion is heavy along Coronation Drive. 
 
 Car parks in Brisbane's CBD have opened their boom gates and advised people to get their cars out. 
 
 Queensland's largest hospital, the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, has cancelled all elective surgery and specialist outpatient appointments because of the floods crisis. 
 
 Elective surgery and specialist outpatients' appointments have also been cancelled at Caboolture, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Oakey and Nambour. 
 
 Caboolture, north of Brisbane, is now isolated by floodwaters and police have told all residents in low-lying areas to immediately move to higher ground. 
 
 Police have told residents in low-lying areas of Strathpine and Caboolture to evacuate immediately. 
 
 ``The flood levels are expected to be greater than the 1974 floods. Do not stay in your homes please leave immediately,'' the police alert said. ``Cars should be moved from low-lying areas.'' 
 
 Inner-Brisbane suburbs New Farm, West End, Fortitude Valley and Bowen Hills are now being evacuated. 
 
 
 
 The Brisbane River has broken its banks at West End. Rivers and creeks throughout the region are still rising. 
 
 Laidley residents have been told to get out as rapidly rising water threatens the Lockyer Valley community west of Brisbane. 
 
 Water is rising quickly and properties are being inundated, posing an immediate danger to residents. 
 
 Emergency services have told people to leave their homes and move to either Laidley Hospital or Laidley Works Depot, Frome St, Laidley. 
 
 Evacuations are now being made int he suburbs of Forrest Hill, Laidley, West End, Strathpine, Caboolture, Toogoolawah and Esk. 
 
 The Ipswich City Council is now opening evacuation centres. 
 
 Bribie Island is also isolated, with all roads in and out cut off, whille there are reports of landslides at Dayboro and Mt Nebo. 
 
 Places facing floods include Ipswich, Moggill, Jindalee, West End, Caboolture, Pine Rivers, Amberley, Walloon, Rosewood, Kalbar, Boonah, Kilcoy and Aratula and through a wide arc south including Stanthorpe and NSW border areas. 
 
 Weather Bureau forecaster Peter Baddiley warned of fast river and creek rises west of Brisbane as flood waters from the Lockyer Valley and surrounding catchments move east. 
 
 This will impact the Brisbane and Bremer rivers and Lockyer and Warrill and Laidley creeks. 
 
 Mr Baddiley described floods in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley as shocking. 
 
 He said low lying area near creeks and rivers faced fast river rises as water moved from those regions into the Brisbane area. 
 
 ``We've got a continuing high but narrow rainfall band and are warning residents to move away ... to higher ground,'' he said. 
 
 ``We're not talking flash floods here (like Toowoomba). This will be over a slower time scale and the river will continue to rise for several days.'' 
 
 Rapid rises are being recorded along Tenthill Creek in the Lockyer, with the main flood waters at Lyons Bridge. Levels above 17m are forecast. 
 
 Flows from the Bremer and Lockyer catchments combined with releases from Wivenhoe dam will increase levels in Brisbane today. 
 
 At the Brisbane city gauge, minor flood levels of about 2.1 metres are expected 
 
 with the afternoon high tide and moderate flood levels of 2.6 metres with the overnight high tide. 
 
 Rises to 3.5 metres (major) are expected on Wednesday afternoon, with higher levels likely on Thursday. 
 
 The Moggill reach of the river will rise to at least 15 metres (moderate) Wednesday and 9 metres at Jindalee. 
 
 Police are advising people near the Brisbane River at West End to move to higher ground. 
 
 ""The Brisbane River has risen and we are starting to see the water enter streets in the low lying areas of West End." a police spokesman said. 
 
 Bureau of Meteorology spokesman Brett Harrison says tomorrow's high tide is likely to push the Brisbane River level to three metres. 
 
 
 
 Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says the flood threat is real and residents should heed the warning. 
 
 
 
 The Bremer River at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, is expected to peak at midday. 
 
 
 
 Several homes at Karalee are expected to be inundated but Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale says the city's central business district should not be affected. 
 
 
 
 This comes after Cr Newman warned yesterday that more water was flowing into the Wivenhoe Dam than the Brisbane River had received in the 1974 floods. 
 
 Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says more water will be released from Wivenhoe Dam today to try and reduce the flood threat. 
 
 
 
 "The releases being made from Wivenhoe Dam are not optional," she said. 
 
 The Brisbane City Council last night issued a warning for residents in more than 30 suburbs to expect flooding. 
 
 The 30 suburbs set to experience flooding tomorrow are: Albion, Auchenflower, Bowen Hills, Brisbane City, Bulimba, Chelmer, Coorparoo, East Brisbane, Fairfield, Fig Tree Pocket, Fortitude Valley, Graceville, Hemmant, Indooroopilly, Kangaroo Point, Lytton, Milton, Moggill, Murarrie, New Farm, Newstead, Norman Park, Oxley, Pinkenba, Rocklea, Sherwood, South Brisbane, Tennyson, Yeronga, Yerongpilly, Windsor and Wacol. 
 
 Council has asked residents in flood-prone areas to collect sandbags from the following locations: Darra Works Depot, Shamrock Rd, Darra; Morningside Works Depot, Redfern Street, Morningside; Newmarket SES Depot, Wilston Rd, Newmarket and Zillmere Works Depot, Jennings Street, Zillmere. ||||| Military helicopters searched Tuesday for scores of people missing after a tsunami-like wall of water ripped through an Australian valley, tossing cars like toys in the deadliest episode of a weekslong flood crisis. 
 
 Local resident move a boat to a safe place as the Brisbane river burst it's banks to cause widespread flooding in Brisbane, Australia, on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Queensland has been in the grip of its... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man is rescued by emergency workers after he was stranded clinging to a tree on a flooded street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man is rescued by emergency workers after he was stranded clinging to a tree on a flooded street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man watches from in a lawn mower business as water flows past in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community Monday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Local residents move to higher ground as the Brisbane river burst its banks to cause widespread flooding in Brisbane, Australia, on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Queensland has been in the grip of its worst... (Associated Press) 
 
 Floodwaters rush along train tracks and an adjacent street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. It is the latest drama for the water-weary state, which has been devastated... (Associated Press) 
 
 People wade up to their waists in water at a street corner in Toowoomba, Australia, as a flash flood carries vehicles past them Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through a northeastern Australian... (Associated Press) 
 
 Tow truck workers clear vehicles from a street in Toowoomba, Australia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, following a flash flood. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing one woman,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Two vehicles are abandoned on a street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community Monday, overturning cars and... (Associated Press) 
 
 People survey the damage after a flash flood tossed vehicles down a street in Toowoomba, Australia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing one... (Associated Press) 
 
 People cling to railings and metal fences on a flooded street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing... (Associated Press) 
 
 People survey the damage after a flash flood tossed vehicles down a street in Toowoomba, Australia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing one... (Associated Press) 
 
 At least ten people were killed and 78 still unaccounted for almost 24 hours after the flash flood hurled untold millions of gallons of water down Queensland state's Lockyer Valley on Monday, state Premier Anna Bligh said. Authorities had grave fears for at least 18 of the missing, she said. 
 
 The valley funneled rain from a freak storm _ forecasters estimated up to 6 inches (150 millimeters) fell in half an hour near Toowoomba city _ into a stream that formed a path of destruction, lifting houses from foundations. 
 
 The torrent slowed and spread out as it moved downstream toward the state capital of Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city with some 2 million people. 
 
 The Brisbane River overflowed its banks Tuesday and officials warned that thousands of houses in dozens of low-lying neighborhoods and parts of the downtown area could be inundated by Thursday. 
 
 "This is a truly dire set of circumstances for the people of Queensland, with more flooding to come," Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television. She said she had been "absolutely shocked" by television footage of Monday's flash flood. 
 
 The violent surge near Toowoomba on Monday escalated Australia's flood crisis in Queensland state and brought the overall death toll to 20. Until then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen rivers burst their banks and inundated towns while moving downstream toward the ocean. 
 
 Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley, and thousands moved out of were being evacuated. In one small community in the path of the floodwaters, Forest Hill, the entire population of about 300 was airlifted to safety in military helicopters, Bligh said. 
 
 In Ipswich, a town of 15,000 people between Toowoomba and Brisbane, hundreds of residents moved in with friends and family or into an evacuation center on high ground as officials warned the swollen Bremer River would flood dozens of homes overnight Tuesday, Mayor Paul Pisasale said. 
 
 As Tuesday progressed, the death toll rose from eight to ten. At an evening afternoon news conference, Bligh said officials held grave fears for 18 of the 78 people missing. She did not elaborate. 
 
 The search and rescue effort was being hampered by thunderstorms and more driving rain, though the bad weather eased during the day and Bligh said the search would get easier on Wednesday. 
 
 Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman said authorities were preparing for about 6,500 properties to be inundated by about 3 feet (1 meter) of water in the next few days, affecting about 15,000 people in 80 suburbs. The flood peak was expected on Thursday, when parts of downtown were expected to be awash. 
 
 The city is protected by a large dam built upstream after floods devastated downtown in 1974. But the reservoir was full, and officials had no choice but to release water that would cause low-level flooding in the city, Newman said. The alternative was a much worse torrent. 
 
 Bligh said five children were among those killed and that many of those still stranded or unaccounted for are families and young children. On Tuesday morning, she said the death toll was eight and the missing numbered 72, and revised those numbers later. The most recently recorded death was that of a boy, who was swept away in the floodwaters. 
 
 Queensland has been in the grip of its worst flooding for more than two weeks, after tropical downpours across a vast area of the state covered an area the size of France and Germany combined. Entire towns have been swamped, more than 200,000 people affected, and coal and farming industries virtually shut down. 
 
 "The power of nature can still be a truly frightening power and we've seen that on display in this country," Gillard told reporters earlier in Canberra. 
 
 The floods reached a second state on Tuesday. Floodwaters bloated by driving rain in recent days cut roads to several towns in northern New South Wales state near the border with Queensland. About 4,500 people were cut off, the State Emergency Services said, though the situation was not yet as dire as in Queensland. 
 
 Monday's flash flooding struck without warning in Toowoomba, a city of some 90,000 people nestled in mountains 2,300 feet (700 meters) above sea level. Bligh said an intense deluge fell over a concentrated area, sending a 26-foot (eight-meter), fast-moving torrent crashing through Toowoomba and smaller towns further down the valley. 
 
 Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described the events Monday as "an inland instant tsunami." 
 
 As the water was pushed its way downstream, officials closed roads and highways and told residents in low-lying area of Brisbane to sandbag their homes and then move to higher ground. 
 
 "We have a grim and desperate situation," Bligh said. "This took everybody so unawares that there was no opportunity in most cases for people to get to safety." 
 
 Heavy rain continued Tuesday, and the Bureau of Meteorology warned that more flash floods could occur. 
 
 Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said rescue efforts were concentrated on towns between Toowoomba and Brisbane, including hardest-hit Murphy's Creek and Grantham, where about 30 people sought shelter in a school isolated by the floodwaters. 
 
 News video from late Monday showed houses submerged to the roof line in raging muddy waters, with people clambering on top. A man, woman and child sat on the roof of their car as waters churned around them. 
 
 In Toowoomba, the waters disappeared almost as fast as they arrived, leaving debris strewn throughout downtown and cars piled atop one another. 
 
 Queensland officials have said the ultimate cost of the weekslong flooding could be as high as $5 billion. ||||| SE Qld corner 'should prepare for possible floods' 
 
 By Donna Field 
 
 Posted 
 
 Emergency Services Queensland (EMQ) says people in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and surrounding areas in south-east Queensland need to be prepared for heavy rain and possible flooding. 
 
 EMQ regional director Warren Bridson says the ground is sodden and residents need to have a flood plan. 
 
 He says it will not take a lot more rain in some places to tip the balance. 
 
 "This season has seen very severe weather events and heavy rain and we implore the community to listen to messages and listen to warnings," he said. 
 
 "When you hear a Bureau of Meteorology warning that you're likely to get 150 to 200 millimetres of rain, balance that with the difference this year."
– The floods that have ravaged huge areas of the Australian state of Queensland show no signs of abating, with the state capital Brisbane now under serious threat. ABC Australia reports that the town of Toowoomba, 70 miles west of the capital, was inundated with rain Monday, with the deluge so fierce that houses in the nearby Lockyer Valley were washed away. At least ten people were killed and 78 are still unaccounted for, AP reports. Brisbane, a city of 2 million, has been protected by a flood catchment since the city was hit by floods in 1974, but the dam is now at capacity. The swollen Brisbane river has now burst its banks and evacuations are taking place, the Courier-Mail reports. It's feared that a combination of further rain and storms, run-off from other flooded areas and a king tide on Friday could cause even further damage to a state already reeling from devastating flooding on the central coast of the state. Authorities believe the floods could take months to subside.