THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Thousands of Brisbane residents have been forced to evacuate their homes as the city braces itself for its worst flooding in more than a century.
The devastating Queensland floods have claimed at least 10 lives in the last two days and left more than 70 people missing on Tuesday after a torrent raged through the streets of Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.
As the winding Brisbane River breached its banks in several places to engulf parks and footbridges and heavy rain continued to fall on the metropolitan area, the city's main roads and public transport system quickly became clogged as people rushed to get to higher ground.
The authorities called for calm amid reports of panic buying among Brisbane residents, and police asked for volunteers to help fill sandbags as the scale of the threat became clearer.
Early estimates suggested that more than 9,000 homes could be inundated when the Brisbane River peaks at 12ft on Thursday.
The destruction was already evident, with a steady stream of debris, including boats and whole pontoons, floating down the swollen Brisbane River. >>> Bonnie Malkin, Brisbane | Tuesday, January 11, 2011
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