Floods in Queensland

The worst floods in the history of Queensland have affected around 200,000 people, with 22 towns and cities inundated, authorities said according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

In the north west of the state, a woman was found dead after her car was swept away by the Leichhardt River while attempting to cross a causeway. On the Boyne River, south of Gladstone on the central coast, rescue workers are searching for a fisherman. A third person is missing in Rockhampton, last seen swimming in the Fitzroy River.

In Rockhampton and southern Queensland areas, citizens are preparing for record river levels. The Fitz
River had reached 8.7 meters early Sunday morning, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, and could rise to 9.4 meters on Wednesday. More than 1,000 people are in 17 evacuation centers, and police expect this number to reach 4,000 statewide over the next few days, according to the Herald.

Inland in central Queensland, flood levels are receding after a few days without rain. Emerald residents are eager to return to their flooded homes as the cleanup begins. In the Darling Downs, about 1000km south east of Emerald, Aimee Mackay-Payne spent Christmas on her family's property near Dalby, where her elderly grandmother has run cattle for almost 80 years. The wool shed is submerged to the roof. Aimee's grandmother has never seen the water higher than lapping just past its steps, and she has been standing at the front door watching the Condamine River rise. "We never ever would see the river from the house," Aimee said. "It's so widespread," Aimee said. "There's just dead cattle everywhere in trees all through there. It's just horrific." Of around 400 head of cattle, 200 are missing including lots of calves. "She's very, very worried about her cattle," Aimee said of her grandmother. "We haven't been able to get down to those really boggy wet areas yet to see how many cattle are left." Aimee said her family is lucky as their property is on higher ground. In low-lying areas, other families' houses have gone underwater, she said, and they hear helicopters during the day as people are evacuated. "Chinchilla's just 37 kilometers up the road from us and the whole town went under," she said.
Aimee said the local residents are looking out for each other and safekeeping each other's livestock in dry paddocks. There is strong "community spirit," she said with people telephoning and dropping in to check in on each other. "Everyone just comes together," Aimee said. "It's just like back in the old days."
People are just praying the dry weather will hold, she said "because it's just so waterlogged everywhere now it wouldn't take much rain for it to come right up again."