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Floods Leave Australian City of 75,000 Stranded

   VOA News 03 January 2011
   An  arrow  painted  at the Capricorn Highway is seen under floodwaters
   6km south of Rockhampton January 3, 2011.

Photo: REUTERS

   An  arrow  painted  at the Capricorn Highway is seen under floodwaters
   6km  south of Rockhampton Jan 3, 2011. Military aircraft flew supplies
   to the Australian town slowly disappearing beneath floodwaters.

   Australian  authorities  say floodwaters have cut off a city of 75,000
   people  in  the  country's  northeast,  forcing the military to deploy
   aircraft to supply residents with food and medicine.
   The  premier  of  Queensland  state,  Anna Bligh, said Rockhampton was
   "completely stranded" by Monday night, with no access by airport, rail
   or road.  Earlier, Australian military planes flew relief supplies to
   the  nearby town of Mackay for delivery by truck to Rockhampton before
   floodwaters cut off the last route into the city.
   The  military  also sent three Blackhawk helicopters to Rockhampton to
   provide  the city with a lifeline for food and medicine.  Authorities
   warned that floodwaters may keep rising in the city until Wednesday.
   Floods  that began affecting Queensland late last month have inundated
   22  communities  and affected about 200,000 people in an area the size
   of Germany and France combined.
   Queensland's  official  in  charge  of  community  safety told VOA the
   damage  is estimated in the billions of dollars, including hundreds of
   millions in lost production at coal mines in the state.  The official
   said  it  will  take  "a  couple of years" for conditions to return to
   normal in some areas.
   Australia  is  the  world's  biggest  exporter  of coking coal used in
   steel-making.
   Queensland  authorities  reported  two  more  deaths  from the floods,
   raising  the  number  of fatalities to three. They say one man drowned
   Monday  when  a  car he was driving was washed away, while another man
   drowned Saturday as floodwaters engulfed his small boat.
   Australian  Prime  Minister Julia Gillard announced more financial aid
   for people affected by the floods Monday, including low-interest loans
   for  farmers  whose  crops  have  been  destroyed.  She described the
   floods  as  a  "major natural disaster" and said recovery will take "a
   significant amount of time."

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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