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200,000 Australians affected by floods covering larger area than France and Germany

Some 200,000 Australians have been affected by flood waters covering an area larger than France and Germany combined.



An aerial image showing properties hit by floodwaters in Emerald, Queensland Photo: EPA



Six-year-old Jake Thompson looks at flood waters that have engulfed Alexander Street in Bundaberg Photo: GETTY



A wallaby stands on a large round hay bale, trapped by rising flood waters, outside the town of Dalby in Queensland, Australia Photo: AP

4:00PM GMT 31 Dec 2010

Military aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by floods as rising rivers inundated or isolated 22 towns in the state of Queensland.

Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister, visited flooded Bundaberg, and flew over Emerald, as she promised that families whose homes were damaged would be eligible for disaster relief payments.

On Thursday, she pledged about £650,000 in federal aid to match a relief fund already set up by the state government.

The Queen meanwhile extended her “sincere sympathies” to those hit by the floods.

Officials say half of Queensland’s 715,305 square miles is affected, after being hit by as much as 24 inches of rain this month, causing swollen rivers to overflow.

While the rain has stopped, the rivers are still surging to new heights and overflowing into low-lying towns as the water makes its way toward the sea.

The muddy water inundating thousands of homes and businesses has led to a shortage of drinking water and raised fears of mosquito-borne disease.

Anna Bligh, the Queensland premier, warned that drenched communities could be stuck underwater for more than a week, and cleanup efforts were expected to cost billions of dollars.

Northeastern Australia often sees heavy rains and flooding during the Southern Hemisphere summer, but the scope of the damage from the recent downpours is unusual.

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Days of torrential downpours have left parts of central and southern Queensland state inundated, flooding thousands of homes and businesses, cutting off roads and forcing the entire populations of two towns to evacuate.

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Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) member Ann Mara uses a kayak to assist a kangaroo stranded by flood waters at Lake Burrendong, about 240 km (149 miles) northwest of Sydney December 8, 2010.

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In this handout provided by Tracey Woods, a member of the Australian Wildlife Rescue Organisation (WIRES) rescues a kangaroo displaced by flooding on December 2, 2010 at Lake Burrendong, Australia

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An aerial view shows properties and houses inundated by floodwaters in the Queensland town of Emerald, 900 km (560 miles) north-west of Brisbane December 31, 2010. Floodwater rose across a vast area in Australia's northeast on Friday, inundating 22 towns, forcing 200,000 residents out of their homes, and closing major sugar export ports.

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Signboards are partially submerged by floodwater in Bundaberg, Queensland December 31, 2010.

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A man holds onto a rope in front of a restaurant submerged in flood water at Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia December 31, 2010

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A police vehicle is halted by flood debris across a road near the town of Injune, about 480kms (298 miles) north west of Brisbane January 1, 2011.

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Houses in the town of Theodore, about 410km (255 miles) north west of Brisbane, are partially submerged by flood waters in this January 1, 2011 handout picture.

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People use a small boat to move around in the main street as flood waters continue to rise in Chinchilla, Queensland, Australia, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010

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Woolworths supermarket's trolleys are used to to block off a road affected by floodwater in Bundaberg, Queensland December 31, 2010

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An aerial view of partially submerged houses in flooded Theodore in Australia's state of Queensland January 2, 2011. Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded on Sunday in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge.

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Farm crops are seen flooded near the town of Theodore in Queensland, Australia January 2, 2011.

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The Isis Highway through the sugar cane town of Bundaberg, Queensland is submerged on December 30, 2010 after entire towns were inundated by the worst deluges in decades.

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Cattle walks through flooded crops near the town of Theodore in Australia's state of Queensland January 2, 2011.

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Flood waters cover much of the runway at the airport in the north Australian city of Rockhampton, about 520kms (323 miles) north of Brisbane in this January 2, 2011 handout picture. Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast disappeared under floodwaters on Sunday in a spreading disaster that has brought some of the highest floods on record and forced thousands from their homes.

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Floodwaters sweep across the Capricorn Highway 6km south of Rockhampton January 3, 2011. Military aircraft flew supplies to an Australian town slowly disappearing beneath floodwaters on Monday, as record flooding in the country's northeast continues to cut coal exports and devastate wheat production.

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A rescue boat passes a 'Welcome to Rockhampton' sign on the flooded Bruce Highway after the Fitzroy River broke its banks and inundated much of Rockhampton on January 4, 2011.


A "welcome to Rockhampton" sign is seen partially submerged in floodwaters in Rockhampton, Queensland, January 4, 2011. Floodwaters eased in Australia's major coal mining region on Tuesday, allowing some mines to slowly resume production although most remained idle, as devastating floods affect some 200,000 people and force towns to be evacuated.