Massive Flood Affected Brisbane, Australia

Aussies affected by flooding are promised financial aid as more rain falls in Queensland. East Creek near Chalk Drive / Chalk Lane rising and washing away lots of cars during Flash Flood in Toowoomba on Monday 10 January 2011.

This is some of the best footage I have seen of the Flood and was taken from the second floor of our office which backs onto Chalk Lane.

And it’s not an exaggeration: The video above, taken by a resident of Toowoomba 80 miles to the west of Brisbane, shows floodwater picking up cars in a parking lot like toys. According to the New York Daily News, river water near Toowoomba hit heights as high as 26 feet. At least ten people in the area are dead and dozens are missing.

Brisbane is protected by a large dam built upstream after floods devastated the downtown in 1974. But the reservoir is full, and officials had to release water, causing low-level flooding in the city, Newman said. The alternative was a much worse torrent.

The Australian Red Cross said it was setting up an evacuation centre in the Brisbane area that could accommodate up to 3,000 people.
Brisbane residents said that supermarkets were already running out of food.