09.58 am, Thursday May 24 2012

Food crisis emerging in flood-hit Qld

17:24 AEDT Thu Dec 30 2010
Kym Agius
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A local resident rows down a street in Bundaberg.
A food crisis is emerging in Queensland with meetings under way to resupply isolated communities.

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A food crisis is emerging amid Queensland's unprecedented flood disaster, with vast swathes of the state awash.

Authorities are planning mass food drops to isolated communities across central and southern regions, as the crisis rolls on.

Premier Anna Bligh, who's been touring flooded communities, foreshadowed a multibillion dollar damage bill and said the state was facing its "toughest hour".

On Thursday, the situation in the inland community of Emerald was of most concern.

The worst-case scenario suggests 80 per cent of the town and 8000 residents could be affected by floodwaters.

About 2500 residents are planning to evacuate, with road and rail access to the town now cut, Emergency Management Queensland said.

Further south, Condamine has become the second entire town to be evacuated.

All of its 100-strong population is being flown to nearby Dalby, amid expectations a 15-metre flood peak will swamp the whole township. Theodore, to Condamine's north, is already empty with its 300 residents evacuated to Moura.

At Bundaberg, on the coast, a peak of 7.9 metres has hit, with floodwaters splitting the city in two, inundating 120 properties, forcing almost 400 evacuations, and devastating crops.

Further north, at Rockhampton, there are fears more than 4000 properties could be affected by what's threatening to be the worst flood in the city's history.

State Recovery Co-ordinator Bruce Grady said that with so many roads cut and so many people forced into evacuation centres food supply was of "growing concern".

"Some of those bigger centres, which will require significant volumes of food and groceries ... may well have become a significant problem," Mr Grady told reporters.

He said authorities were working with retailers to open up supply chains and get food and other essentials to needy communities.

"We may have to look at creative ways to do that. We have to look at moving produce by sea, plane," said Mr Grady, who's also the chief of Emergency Management Queensland.

Communities in need included those on the Darling Downs, from central Queensland across to the coast, and north to Cairns, he said.

Central Highlands Mayor Peter Maguire estimated about 25 per cent of Emerald had been affected by floodwaters by Thursday afternoon.

"We're talking about 80 per cent of the town being under water by the end of it, but it's got a way to go yet to do that," he told AAP.

Flood levels are expected to peak on Friday at 16.2 metres.

Mr Maguire said a peak of that level would "not necessarily mean every house will have water flowing through it" but many would be surrounded by water and isolated.

"The worst-case scenario is that we could have 8000 people impacted in Emerald, and the peak will last a couple of days," he said.

At Condamine, three choppers were used to get the town's entire population of 100 out after the Condamine River reached a record peak of 14.25 metres.

It's expected to peak at more than 15 metres, which Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown said would put the entire town under water.

"We'll have them all into Dalby early this evening," Mr Brown told AAP, adding it was anyone's guess how long they'd have to remain there.

At Bundaberg, floodwaters have split the city in two, inundating 120 properties and forcing almost 400 evacuations.

The Burnett River peaked at 7.9 metres overnight, its highest level since 1942 when it reached 8.4 metres.

Deputy Mayor Tony Ricciardi said 100 homes and two dozen businesses had water above the floorboards, with 400 people evacuated.

"... we won't see this again in our lifetime, well, I hope," he told AAP.

He said it appeared the Burnett River peaked on Thursday at about 7.95 metres, causing the city's second worst flood in 100 years.

He said the river was expected to remain around the seven-metre level for at least the next 24 hours and when it receded the clean-up job would be enormous.

He said farmers in the region had been dealt a severe blow, and their losses would be vast.

As floodwaters reach the coastal city of Rockhampton, the council is warning more than 4000 properties could be affected.

The Fitzroy River could reach 9.4 metres there by Tuesday next week, and could even go beyond that, Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said.

He said modelling for a nine-metre peak, expected by Sunday, showed 150 homes would have water above floor level, 1000 homes with considerable water through yards and 4000 parcels of land affected by water inundation.

"If it gets higher than that, the number goes up significantly at a greater rate," Mr Carter said.

"It could be devastating," he said. "It is an extremely serious matter now."

Evacuations have not been ordered at this stage, but will be considered on Friday. Mr Carter said the city was likely to be cut off by road, rail and air by Saturday morning.

The premier, who toured Emerald on Thursday, said Queensland was in the grip of an extraordinary event.

"As we look across Queensland and see the communities affected by the scale of the disaster, it's fair to say that Queensland is facing its toughest hour," she told reporters, adding the clean-up would cost billions.

 

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