Condamine became the latest Queensland town to be evacuated after parts of Australia's east coast registered their worst floods in 50 years, according to dpa. The 300 people of Theodore were the first to pile into army Blackhawk helicopters and the residents of Emerald and Chinchilla followed them to evacuation centres set up on higher ground. Torrential rain since Christmas Day has cut roads, marooned farms, inundated homes and wrecked crops and commercial premises. "The state of Queensland is facing a disaster of an unprecedented scale," Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said. "This event will continue for days and possibly even weeks as the recovery takes hold." In Bundaberg, 375 kilometres north of Brisbane, rising waters have split the coastal city in two. At least 120 houses are flooded and with 200 more threatened police are going from door to door ordering residents to prepare to leave. As the floodwaters make their way south, the people of New South Wales have been urged to prepare to sandbag their properties. A State Emergency Services spokeswoman said over 3,000 requests for help had been received. "It's likely that flooding in some areas will continue into the New Year as far-west and southern-river flood peaks move slowly downstream," she said. But it is in the central part of Australia's east coast that the battle against rising floodwaters is most intense. The Queensland state government has given police the power to forcibly evacuate householders who are unwilling to budge, regardless of the threat from rising waters. The 100 residents of Condamine were airlifted out and police installed to deter looters. "Residents must be aware that it's in their best interests to get to safety," Condamine mayor Ray Brown said. "What we flew over today is quite astounding; what's there and also what's coming." Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh, who has been pledged financial support from the federal government, is warning that, with flooding so widespread, it may take years for a full recovery. "What we've never seen is so many towns, so many communities, so many regions all affected at once," Bligh said. "It's a miserable and heart-breaking event." While farmers have lost crops, stock and machinery, the Bureau of Meteorology was looking on the bright side and totting up the benefits of full water storage facilities. It said Australia, just emerging from a 10-year drought, now had the highest per capita reserves of fresh water in the world, with the dams serving Brisbane and Canberra full to overflowing and Sydney's massive stores at 72 per cent. National Farmers Federation president Jock Laurie said "doom and gloom" scenarios were misplaced because the rains had set farmers up for several good seasons. "The floods are still very much in action and the main thing now is to try and make sure people are safe," he said, predicting that harvest shortfalls would be balanced against rising prices. The flooding has delayed some shipments of coal, Australia's second-biggest export item after iron ore, and there are concerns that some contracts will not be fulfilled.
