Bundaberg's flood clean-up begins

30 Jan 2013, 6:17 am   -   Source: AAP

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Bundaberg, the worst-hit Queensland city, is now in clean-up mode after more than 2000 homes were damaged in record-breaking floods.

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Hit with the worst of Queensland's flooding, Bundaberg is left with thousands of people forced from their homes, tonnes of sludge to clear and the added slap of price gouging and suspected looting.

The swollen Burnett River peaked at a record 9.5m on Tuesday afternoon, inundating about 2000 homes and 200 businesses.

More than 7500 displaced residents have sought refuge in evacuation centres or with friends and family on higher ground.

The army helped move 131 patients, some seriously ill and frail, from the Bundaberg Hospital to Brisbane on Tuesday.

Premier Campbell Newman, who visited the flood-stricken town on Tuesday, said the relocation revealed how serious the crisis was.

"Certainly when you're there and you see elderly patients in a hangar ... going through that trauma of that journey down to Brisbane (it) really brings home to you the human face of what is going on in Bundaberg and other centres," he told reporters in Brisbane.

Defence has commissioned four Black Hawk helicopters to help rescue residents in the worst-hit northern suburbs who refused to leave their homes when mandatory evacuation orders were issued on Monday.

As the city begins to move towards recovery mode, residents are having to contend with looting and profiteering.

Residents have taken to social media to complain about exorbitant prices - including $8 for a loaf of bread and $11 for a cup of coffee - charged by some local businesses.

Queensland's police commissioner Ian Stewart says there have been four offences in Bundaberg that could result in looting charges.

Moore Park resident Chris Pasky says his community, just outside Bundaberg, is cut off and out of food.

"People were almost coming to blows this morning at the local shop fighting over bread rolls," he told AAP.

"We've got a baby in the house we can't feed. We've just been forgotten."

But Mr Newman said there were plenty of positive stories coming out of the disaster as well.

He said Bundaberg SES volunteer Jill Hall, whose home had completely flooded while she helped others in distress, typified the community spirit arising from the tragedy.

"I take my hat off to her and so many other people around this state," he said.

Mr Newman said the Bundaberg region's smaller outlying towns, like Eidsvold, Gayndah, Mundubbera and Monto, were also doing it tough as they battled floods and supply problems.

He said Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney would tour those communities in coming days.

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