'Brisbane will wake up to scenes they have never seen before ...'
What some have called an "inland tsunami" slammed into Brisbane, causing two major river systems to burst their banks, flooding roads and displacing thousands.
The surging, muddy waters reached the tops of traffic lights in some parts of the city, and as many as 20,000 homes and 3,500 businesses in low-lying neighbourhoods were evacuated overnight. The flood is expected to peak before sunrise today.
"We are in the grip of a very serious natural disaster," Queensland State Premier Anna Bligh said, predicting that almost 20,000 homes could be flooded at the river's peak.
"Brisbane will go to sleep tonight and wake up to scenes many will never have seen before in their lives," she warned.
At least 16 people have been killed this week and more than 43 left missing in the latest flooding. The flood peak hit Ipswich, a satellite town to the west, late yesterday. More than 1,500 Ipswich residents took shelter in evacuation centres but some fled homes with nothing more than what they were wearing.
In Brisbane, the swirling floodwaters rose, forcing about 3,500 residents to flee with a few possessions to evacuation centres.
Dams built to protect Brisbane and outlying towns were spilling floodwaters into swollen rivers. The Port of Brisbane was closed, shutting down Australia's third-busiest container port and a 5 million tonnes per year coal-loading facility.
Power company Energex shut power to some low-lying areas of Brisbane, including parts of the financial district.
Economists have raised their estimates of the economic impact of the flooding, with one central bank board member saying that the disaster could cut 1 per cent off growth - equal to almost US$13 billion ($16.8 billion). Agencies
