Australia floods: Fears worsen for Brisbane
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A boat swept down the swollen Brisbane river sinks after hitting a bridge
Up to 20,000 homes are now at risk in Brisbane, the Queensland state premier has said, as deadly floodwater surge towards Australia's third-largest city.
Central Brisbane is a ghost town, with electricity cut and thousands urged to either evacuate or stay at home.
West of Brisbane, the city of Ipswich is being swamped by flood waters in a situation described as "total chaos".
The death toll from the flash floods in Queensland is 12 so far, with many others reported missing.
Australian broadcaster ABC reports that the Brisbane river is now forecast to peak at 5.2m (17ft) in the early hours of Thursday, down from a prediction of 5.5m.
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About 50 people are still missing in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane.
As the rain clears, search and rescue teams are ready to deploy in what Queensland Premier Anna Bligh described as a "very gruesome" task.
"I think we will all be shocked by what they will find," Ms Bligh said.
'Serious event' Power to central Brisbane has been cut in a move intended to prevent generators becoming a fire risk if flooded.
Shops put up signs that they would not open.
At the scene
The owners of shops and cafes in one of the lower-lying communities in Brisbane have been putting sandbags out throughout the day, but the waters have risen above them and are wrecking their properties.
The only way to get around these communities at the moment, as the police are doing, is in metal boats - tinnies, as they're called locally. We've seen a lot of them across Queensland recently.
There are still dozens of people missing, not in Brisbane but further inland. That town of Toowomba, which saw such extraordinary scenes on Monday afternoon, when flash flooding ripped through - cars were overturned, just swept through - was all the more remarkable because Toowomba doesn't have a river. That's why that's why state premier Anna Bligh called it a freak of nature.
Dozens of people are still feared missing - whole families in some instances. The search operation is still ongoing.
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The Brisbane Courier Mail said 50 of the city's suburbs would be hit by flooding, and quoted Mayor Campbell Newman as saying some areas would be completely submerged.
He said Thursday would "be devastating for the residents and businesses affected".
The Brisbane river has burst its banks at Yeerongpilly and Indooroopilly, flooding streets. The paper quoted city council flood modelling as predicting that 40,000 properties would be affected.
More than 6,500 Brisbane residents are expected to take refuge in three evacuation centres.
Brisbane is facing a combined surge of water from the flooded Lockyer Valley and the Wivenhoe Dam, which is so full that it has been forced into controlled releases.
High tides - known as king tides - will exacerbate the problem on Thursday.
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Sandbags have been given out to residents of Brisbane, a city with a population of two million.
Peak levels of major Brisbane floods
- 1841 - 8.4 metres
- 1844 - 7m
- 1864 - 3.8m
- 1887 - 3.8m
- 1889 - 3.8m
- 1890 - 5.3m
- 1893 - 8.3m
- 1907 - 3.5m
- 1974 - 5.45m
- 2011 - 5.2m (estimated)
here are reports of at least one bull shark being spotted in the flooded streets, says Australian broadcaster ABC.
In Ipswich, the Queensland Times said 3,000 homes were under water and 1,100 people have gone to evacuation centres.
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The Bremer river, which runs through the city, is now expected to peak at 19.5m on Wednesday, revised downwards from 20.5m.
Train services have been suspended to the city.
Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said he expected flood levels to drop within the next 36 hours, allowing the clean-up to begin afterwards.
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"If I find anybody looting in our city, they will be used as flood markers," he warned.
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