Jan. 13: The full horror of Australia’s deadly flash floods emerged Thursday as rescuers found more bodies in wrecked towns and survivors told heart-rending tales of death and tragedy. As Brisbane reeled from its worst floods in decades, emergency services shifted communities around Toowoomba, about 125km west in the Great Dividing Range, which bore the brunt of Monday’s disaster.
The Queensland state premier, Ms Anna Bligh, said staff were reporting unimaginable scenes from the brief but devastating inundation which tore houses off their foundations and left some areas isolated. “In the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley region, while the water has receded the kind of devastation that it has left is only now becoming clear to everybody in that valley,” she said.
“This is a valley that has been completely and utterly devastated. There are now whole towns that are completely unrecognisable.” Rescuers engaged in the gruesome hunt for bodies found two more victims, taking this week’s toll to 15, including one man killed in Brisbane.
In south-east Queensland, one of Australia’s richest men, Mr Clive Palmer, saved 60 people from floodwaters in and around his horse stud, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. In Ipswich, located to the west of Brisbane, residents are panic-stricken following reports that sharks were seen in flood waters in a submerged section of Goodna, Ipswich.
The man who saw the sharks said they could have been bull sharks. The Queensland police are also tapping into the power of Facebook to help account for all those still missing and have urged backpackers in the Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley and Gatton areas to make contact with family, or friends to let them know they are safe.