Floods in Brisbane, Australia

Photo taken from SMH..com.au

Much of Brisbane and upper NSW has been declared disaster zones. The Brisbane CBD has been flooded with about 100,000 people predicted to be cut off from power for the next few days and 24,000 people have already registered that they will be homeless.

It will be the biggest flood in 118 years. The last flood of similar proportions was in 1974. Since that time the Wivenhoe Dam was built to stop further similar disasters. The 174-foot-high dam has been doing controlled releases since 8 o'clock last night to avoid critical capacity. It has been theorized that if the dam was to break all of Brisbane would be flooded.

Over the next couple of days there is likely to be a shortage of water due to treatment plants reaching maximum capacity.

So far 12 people have died with critical concerns for another 18. At the present time there are still 68 people missing. Some areas have been flooded several times.

Areas such as Ipswich and Toowoomba have been particularly affected. Toowoomba had little warning when the waters rose in minutes. It is understood the Australian Defence Force is working at Toowoomba Hospital to set up a morgue for at least 20 bodies resulting from Monday's flash flooding.

Sickness is a concern for people in flood areas and people who are going into the water.

Our thoughts are with those people affected by the flooding.