Highlights
- The flooding in Brisbane and its surrounds is the worst since 2011 when the city of 2.6 million people was inundated by what was described as a once-in-a-century event.
- Hundreds of people across the region have been left stranded for hours on rooftops amid the crisis as state and federal emergency services struggle to access impacted areas.
- The Australian Defence Force has been called in to assist with rescues, as countless residents call out on social media and to SES for urgent help.
Towns and suburbs have been submerged, with some residents stranded on rooftops, and others canoeing through the streets to flee their homes to evacuation centres.
Roads and schools have been closed, and trains are cancelled.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Diana Eadie says that while the rain is now easing for Queenslanders, the danger posed by significant flooding was only still unfolding.
"The most intense rain has now eased for large parts of south-east Queensland though the threat continues for far southern parts of the Gold Coast area and the Scenic Rim. That really intense rain is now shifting into north-east New South Wales and easing for much of south-east Queensland. That being said the risk for significant flooding is still very real."
