Crocodiles, snakes are danger in flooded Australia

Flood victims warned of risk from snakes and crocodiles
Residents of a flood-hit Australian city were warned yesterday not to wade through the waist-high waters because of fears that crocodiles and snakes could be lurking. Floods that have cut air, rail and road links to Rockhampton are now threatening its sewage plant, and waters are still expected to rise another few feet before peaking today. A huge inland sea spawned by more than a week of Heavy Rain across Queensland state is making its way along the Fitzroy river toward the ocean – and Ro...

Australian city hitting flood peak
Flood preparations in the inundated Australian city of Rockhampton are being put to the test as river levels hit their peak. The River Fitzroy which flows through the Queensland city is at 9.2m (30ft) and expected to hit 9.4m, having already swamped hundreds of acres. Officials say more than 400 homes will be flooded and another 4,000 will have water pouring through their gardens. Many residents have already evacuated, some forced to do so by police. More than 100 people spent the night in an e...

Crocodiles, snakes are danger in flooded Australia
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (AP) — Residents of an Australian city cut off by some of the country’s worst Flooding in decades are being warned to stay out of the water, and not just because of the risk of being swept away: Debris, snakes and even crocodiles could also pose a danger. Large parts of the coastal city of Rockhampton were under water Tuesday. The waters were still rising, with the 75,000-strong population bracing for the floods’ expected peak in the next 24 hours as a hu...

Crocodiles, snakes are danger in flooded Australia
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia — Residents of an Australian city cut off by some of the country's worst Flooding in decades are being warned to stay out of the water, and not just because of the risk of being swept away: Debris, snakes and even crocodiles could also pose a danger. Large parts of the coastal city of Rockhampton were under water Tuesday. The waters were still rising, with the 75,000-strong population bracing for the floods' expected peak in the next 24 hours as a huge inland s...

Australia: Crocs, snakes, and sewage add to floods travel chaos
Floods that have cut air, rail and road links to the Australian coastal city of Rockhampton are now threatening its sewage plant, and waters are still expected to rise another few feet before peaking today. Residents of Rockhampton made their way in boats through waters that reached waist-high in some areas yesterday but were warned not to wade since snakes and crocodiles could be lurking. A huge inland sea spawned by more than a week of Heavy Rain a ADVERTISEMENT cross Queensland state is ma...

Military Flights Race To Flood-Hit Australian City
Military flights rushed Monday to restock an Australian city before it was cut off by floodwaters that have turned a huge swath of the Outback into a lake, while police confirmed two more Deaths in the crisis. Rockhampton is now completely stranded — a town of 75,000 people — no airport, rail or road. - Queensland Premier Anna Bligh Drenching rain that started before Christmas has flooded an area the size of France and Germany combined in northeastern Queensland state. Rivers are ove...

Australia Flooding Creates Global Ripple Effect
Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser has called the recent Flooding in Australia a "disaster of biblical proportion." Flood waters have covered an area larger than the state of Texas. The Flooding is also having a global impact on wheat and coal prices. The severe Flooding has turned the city of Rockhampton's streets into raging rivers. "What's happening here in Rockhampton is - well, I don't think we're going to see it again for another 50 or 100 years," said Anna Bligh, Queensland State Premi...

Australia flood death toll rises
Reporting from Sydney, Australia — Floodwaters in Australia's Queensland state created havoc in at least 22 cities and towns throughout the region grappling with several weeks of devastating rains, officials said Monday. At least three people have been killed in the Flooding since Saturday, and Queensland officials said as many as 10 have died in weather-related incidents beginning in late November. About 200,000 people have been affected by the flooding, with many leaving their homes ...

Australia floods cause "catastrophic" damage
By Daniel Munoz ROCKHAMPTON, Australia | Tue Jan 4, 2011 9:24pm EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) - Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its Coal Mines, which fuel Asia's steel mills, to grind to a halt, Queensland's premier said on Wednesday. The worst Flooding in decades has affected an area the size of Germany and France, left towns virtual islands in a muddy inland sea, cut major rail and ro...

Australian city cut off by floods braces for more
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia — Floods that have cut air, rail and road links to an Australian coastal city are now threatening its sewage plant, and waters are still expected to rise another few feet before peaking Wednesday. Residents of Rockhampton made their way in boats through waters that reached waist-high in some areas Tuesday but were warned not to wade into the them since snakes and crocodiles could be lurking. A huge inland sea spawned by more than a week of Heavy Rain across Queenslan...

Snakes, crocodiles threaten flood-hit Australia town
Australian residents fled their homes and sandbagged properties Tuesday as a major town was threatened by a worsening flood disaster which unleashed a plague of snakes and crocodiles. Tens of thousands of people in Rockhampton braced for complete isolation as waters which have inundated an area bigger than France and Germany, and closed the town's airport and railway, lapped at the last remaining road link. Rumours of crocodile sightings swept the besieged cattle-farming centre northeast of Bris...

Floods take economic toll on Queensland
BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The long-term effect of Australia's Flooding will be "significant" on The Economy, a Queensland official said. Across northeastern Australia, at least 200,000 people have been affected torrential rains and floods, covering 386,000 square miles -- an area about the size of France and Germany combined. State Treasurer Andrew Fraser of Queensland, Australia's worst-hit state, estimates damage from the floods "will run into billions -- not millions -- of dollars,...

Australia floods force evacuations, recede in coal
By Daniel Munoz ROCKHAMPTON, Australia | Tue Jan 4, 2011 1:46am EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) - Floodwaters eased in Australia's major Coal Mining region on Tuesday, allowing some mines to slowly resume production although most remained idle, as devastating floods affect some 200,000 people and force towns to be evacuated. Floods have submerged or disrupted life across an area the size of France and Germany combined, according to the premier of Queensland state. The floodwaters have br...

Australia floods force evacuations
By Daniel Munoz ROCKHAMPTON, Australia | Tue Jan 4, 2011 2:59am EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) - Floodwaters eased in Australia's major Coal Mining region on Tuesday, allowing some mines to slowly resume production although most remained idle, as devastating floods affect some 200,000 people and force towns to be evacuated. Floods have submerged or disrupted life across an area the size of France and Germany combined, according to the premier of Queensland state. The floodwaters have br...

Australia floods 'to hit steel'
The Queensland floods could have a "significant long-term effect" on the global steel industry, the premier of the Australian state has warned. Anna Bligh's comments came as three quarters of the state's coal fields are unable to operate due to being flooded. The situation in Queensland is being closely watched by the global steel industry, because it exports half the coking coal needed to make the metal. However, steel analysts say it is too soon to be able to quantify the i...

Deadly Landslides Hit Philippines
Like this Story? Share it: Residents wait to cross a flooded road in the town of Sto. Domingo, Albay province, southeast of Manila, Dec. 30, 2010, as Heavy Rains hit the province. (Getty Images) Learn about the people, economy and history. (AP) MANILA - Landslides and floods after days of heavy rain in the Philippines have killed at least 10 people, including five Children, officials said Tuesday. The dead included a 1-year-old baby and his 5-year-old sister who were buried by a landslide as t...

Flooded Queensland faces months of rain
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Heavy Rain was forecast to fall again Wednesday in Australia's flooded Queensland state, and forecasters said wet weather is expected to last for three months. Flooding has killed at least 10 people, emergency officials said. The Royal Australian Air Force has been shuttling supplies to stranded areas. "The thing we are all very fearful of is that we've only just started our wet season: We've got three months of cyclone season to go," said Brent Finlay, pr...

Evacuations in Australia proceed as floodwaters rise
More Evacuations were underway in the flood-ravaged Australian state of Queensland on Tuesday as waters continued to rise. Relief teams continued rushing supplies into the eastern city of Rockhampton. In some of the state's more rural areas, farmers said they were scrambling to send tons of crops out before waters damaged them and Flooding made their transport impossible. Police said 10 people have died as a result of Flooding since November 30 - many of them swept away by swift waters. An ...

Food, supplies flown to flood-stranded Aussie city
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A Military flight rushed Monday to restock an Australian city before it was cut off by floodwaters that have turned a huge swath of the Outback into a lake, while police confirmed two more Deaths in the crisis. Drenching rain that started before Christmas has flooded an area the size of France and Germany combined in northeastern Queensland state. Rivers are overflowing and at least 22 towns and cities in the farming region are inundated. In the coastal city of R...

Relief flights help flood-affected Australian city
BRISBANE, Australia — Military flights rushed Monday to restock an Australian city before it was cut off by floodwaters that have turned a huge swath of the Outback into a lake, while police confirmed two more Deaths in the crisis. Drenching rain that started before Christmas has flooded an area the size of France and Germany combined in northeastern Queensland state. Rivers are overflowing and at least 22 towns and cities in the farming region are inundated. In the coastal city of Rockha...

Floods cut off city, military sent to help
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The last road into flood-besieged Rockhampton in Australia's Queensland was underwater Monday, officials said. Defense Minister Warren Snowdon ordered the Military to ferry supplies to the city's 75,000 residents. The flood's death toll was at 10. Flooding has affected 200,000 people and inundated thousands of homes. Residents and government officials braced for more water in what has been called the worst flooding in two decades, The Sydney Morning Hera...

Australia flood death toll rises; rains cause more havoc
Reporting from Sydney, Australia — Floodwaters in Australia's Queensland state created havoc in at least 22 cities and towns throughout the region grappling with several weeks of devastating rains, officials said Monday. At least three people have been killed in the Flooding since Saturday, and Queensland officials said as many as 10 have died in weather-related incidents beginning in late November. Get dispatches from Times correspondents around the globe delivered to your inbox with ...

75,000 stranded by Australian floodwaters
THE Australian city of Rockhampton and its 75,000 people were completely cut off by floodwaters yesterday, as the unprecedented surge of water across the country's north-east caused huge disruption. • An aerial view shows all too clearly the extent of the disaster in the suburb of Depot Hill in Rockhampton Picture: AFP/Getty Images Drenching rain that started before Christmas has flooded an area the size of France and Germany combined in northeastern Queensland state. Rivers are overflowing...

Death Toll in Philippine Landslides and Flooding Rises to 13
The death toll from landslides and floods triggered by days of Heavy Rains in the Philippines has risen to 13 after rescuers found more bodies, officials said Tuesday. Civil defense administrator Benito Ramos said nearly 13,000 people have sought shelter in schools and gymnasiums turned into Evacuation centers in 12 provinces on the country's Eastern Seaboard. The dead include six Children, three of them dug from a wall of mud that buried their homes Sunday as they slept in the central Philip...

Australian floods: disaster stretches across Queensland
A huge swath of Queensland has been hit by Flooding, which has submerged an area the size of France and Germany combined....