Australia Evacuates Third Largest City Over Flooding

Residents struggle to rescue their cars as flash floods sweep through Toowoomba in Queensland on Tuesday. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Thousands of people have been urged to flee to higher ground in Australia's third-largest city, Brisbane, as a vast flood has rushed into it.

At least 6 500 homes could be flooded by Thursday, when the river is expected to peak at about 20 feet above its usual level, the city's Mayor, Campbell Newman, has warned.

Three quarters of the Australian state of Queensland has been declared a disaster zone.

Some 78 people were still missing on Tuesday, and police warned that they had "very grave fears" for 18 of those missing. At least 20 people have been killed in the floodwaters that have swept vast areas of Queensland. There are predictions the flooding could be the worst in the country's history. At least ten people have been killed

At the end of December 2010, torrential rains in Australia flooded an area bigger than France and Germany together. The cost of the flooding has been estimated at around USD 5 B up till now.

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