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30 December 2010
Last updated at 03:12 ET
Water levels are continuing to rise in some parts of the Australian state of Queensland as it battles its worst floods in decades.
Days of torrential rain have led rivers to burst their banks, swamping homes and businesses, closing roads and forcing residents to evacuate.
The rain has eased but flooding is getting worse in some places as water drains from higher ground.
In Emerald, a flood peak that could inundate 80% of the town is expected.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh warned that for some communities the worst lay ahead.
"We've still got a number of communities that are facing the prospect of increased flooding over the next couple of days.
"So this disaster that's unfolding on an unprecedented scale is far from over."
Food fears She visited Emerald, a town of about 11,000 residents in central Queensland.
About 500 residents have been evacuated there ahead of a predicted flood peak in the early hours of Friday on the Nogoa River that is expected to deluge the town.
Further south, the town of Theodore has been completely evacuated and 100 residents are also being airlifted from Condamine ahead of another expected flood peak.
The city of Bundaberg has been split in two by the swollen Burnett River. Four hundred people had been evacuated and 120 properties flooded, the deputy mayor said.
Hundreds of residents across southern and central parts of the state are sheltering in evacuation centres, and officials have warned of severe damage to homes, crops and livestock.
"We've got a long way to go ahead of us and when these waters recede, that is when we're really going to know the size of the problem," Ms Bligh said.
Army helicopters are to be used to drop food supplies into isolated areas and officials are also looking at ways of making sure larger communities remain stocked.
"We might have to look at some creative ways of doing that, we may have to look at moving product by sea, by plane," Bruce Grady of Emergency Management Queensland told the ABC.
"There's a whole range of planning that's currently going on."
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Days of torrential rain have led rivers to burst their banks, swamping homes and businesses, closing roads and forcing residents to evacuate.
The rain has eased but flooding is getting worse in some places as water drains from higher ground.
In Emerald, a flood peak that could inundate 80% of the town is expected.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh warned that for some communities the worst lay ahead.
"We've still got a number of communities that are facing the prospect of increased flooding over the next couple of days.
"So this disaster that's unfolding on an unprecedented scale is far from over."
Food fears She visited Emerald, a town of about 11,000 residents in central Queensland.
About 500 residents have been evacuated there ahead of a predicted flood peak in the early hours of Friday on the Nogoa River that is expected to deluge the town.
Further south, the town of Theodore has been completely evacuated and 100 residents are also being airlifted from Condamine ahead of another expected flood peak.
The city of Bundaberg has been split in two by the swollen Burnett River. Four hundred people had been evacuated and 120 properties flooded, the deputy mayor said.
Hundreds of residents across southern and central parts of the state are sheltering in evacuation centres, and officials have warned of severe damage to homes, crops and livestock.
"We've got a long way to go ahead of us and when these waters recede, that is when we're really going to know the size of the problem," Ms Bligh said.
Army helicopters are to be used to drop food supplies into isolated areas and officials are also looking at ways of making sure larger communities remain stocked.
"We might have to look at some creative ways of doing that, we may have to look at moving product by sea, by plane," Bruce Grady of Emergency Management Queensland told the ABC.
"There's a whole range of planning that's currently going on."
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