Brisbane’s mayor and authorities have advised people living in many areas of Brisbane, the third biggest city in Australia. Flash flooding has taken the lives of nine in Toowoomba and at least seventy are missing in the area.

It has been stated that as many as 6,500 houses and business are set to flood in the very near future. The fast rising waters of the Brisbane river are also reported to have been rising at the rate of at over a meter per hour, and around 200,000 people have been affected by the devastation. It is too early to say how big of a financial impact the flooding has caused, but it is clear even at this early stage that it will run into the many billions of dollars.

The BBC has reported that the Brisbane River, which runs through the middle of the city, has already broken its banks. Vehicles and people immediately began escaping the industrial areas as the low-lying regions became overcome by the floods. Many of Brisbane’s citizens have been given sandbags ahead in preparation for what is predicted to be the peak of the disaster, expected to come between Wednesday and Thursday.

The Ipswitch area is expected to face widespread disruption alongside Brisbase city itself. The Toowoomba region has so far seen a great deal of damage – this has come after ten years of severe drought and it is understood that the sudden flooding could not have been conceivably predicted by meteorologists.

State Premier Anna Bligh has dubbed the devastation Queensland’s “darkest hour”.

Reported by Zeke Lyons.

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