Major portions of Brisbane resembled a watery ghost town Thursday as muddy waters from the overflowing Brisbane River inundated Australia's third-largest city, part of massive flooding throughout Queensland state that has left officials and residents reeling.In Brisbane, a city of 2 million, 11,900 homes and 2,500 businesses were completely flooded, an additional 14,700 houses and 2,500 businesses were at least partly covered by water, and 120,000 houses were without power, Mayor Campbell Newman said. One man was killed after being swept into a storm drain.Across Queensland, more than 20 people have died, dozens of towns have been submerged — some three times since late November — and more than 74 people are missing across an area the size of Germany and France that is still under water. The death toll is expected to rise as water recedes and officials make grim discoveries.More than 2.5 million residents have been affected by the flooding that, according to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, has caused at least $5 billion worth of damage, forced the evacuation of tens of thousands and may leave many homeless for months."Some people will return to their homes to discover they will never be habitable again," Bligh said.The Brisbane River peaked at about 14.5 feet Thursday — about three feet below the worst fears of officials, although Bligh said the rebuilding process was likely to be of "postwar" proportions.Entire neighborhoods have been devastated, and water remains above the roofs of many buildings. Citizens braved the elements in kayaks, rowboats, even surfboards.Lucinda Kent, 19, said Thursday that while "everything is looking better this morning," her home was still without power, and they were concerned about the water supply.The flooding was "pretty nerve-racking," she said. An aunt trapped in an apartment building in the city had called her parents to ask for help, but it was too late to do anything "because all the bridges are out.""It was definitely scary," Kent said.Analysts said Queensland's coal industry has been virtually shut down, costing millions of dollars in deferred exports and sending global prices higher. Vegetable, fruit and sugarcane crops in the rich agricultural region have been wiped out, and prices are expected to skyrocket as a result.In the Lockyer Valley area west of Brisbane, a flash flood swept through the town of Toowoomba this week, killing at least 14 people and leaving more than 70 missing.Poor weather has continued to hamper rescue operations there and in other parts of the state.Police have warned that there are likely to be gruesome finds, and Bligh said the country should brace for disturbing discoveries in the days ahead."I don't think anything can prepare any of us for what we might see in the Lockyer Valley," she said in one of a series of news conferences she has been holding every two hours over the last few days.Queensland police earlier had declined to comment on suggestions that there was a "mass grave" underneath a bridge in the Lockyer Valley town of Grantham, which police have cordoned off as they search for bodies."The problem we have is that the people have been washed out of their homes, and some of the homes are actually destroyed, like bombs have gone off there," Ian Stewart, Queensland's deputy police commissioner, told Australian television Thursday. "It's a war scene in the Lockyer Valley today." ||||| Lord Mayor warns 6500 homes and businesses around Brisbane will go under as the city's flood crisis worsens 
 
 BRISBANE'S Lord Mayor Campbell Newman is predicting 6500 properties will be flooded across the city. 
 
 Cr Newman says the next few days will see a large-scale disaster unfolding across the city, ahead of an expected peak in the Brisbane River on Thursday. 
 
 Office workers are streaming out of Brisbane's CBD as the Brisbane River breaks its banks with floods greater than 1974 expected to hit the southeast. 
 
 Flood waters are heading towards Brisbane, with residents warned to prepare for a major flood as office workers and shoppers leave the CBD. 
 
 There have been no forced evacuations in Brisbane, although the flood situation is rapidly worsening. 
 
 
 
 Traffic is building up in and around Brisbane as people try to get home in the ongoing rain. 
 
 
 
 The Myer Centre in Brisbane's CBD has been evacuated and will close its doors due to possible flooding. Westpac Bank also shut 39 branches in flood affected areas of the city and the state's southeast. 
 
 The Regatta Hotel in Toowong is being sandbagged and the nearby Drift floating restaurant has been swamped in rising floodwaters. 
 
 
 
 Police are urging residents in Red Hill to take care after reports of rocks falling on the roof of the Catholic Church in Musgrave Rd. 
 
 
 
 Traffic is streaming out of the city as office blocks in Eagle and Wharf streets and restaurants along South Bank are evacuated. Congestion is heavy along Coronation Drive. 
 
 Car parks in Brisbane's CBD have opened their boom gates and advised people to get their cars out. 
 
 Queensland's largest hospital, the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, has cancelled all elective surgery and specialist outpatient appointments because of the floods crisis. 
 
 Elective surgery and specialist outpatients' appointments have also been cancelled at Caboolture, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Oakey and Nambour. 
 
 Caboolture, north of Brisbane, is now isolated by floodwaters and police have told all residents in low-lying areas to immediately move to higher ground. 
 
 Police have told residents in low-lying areas of Strathpine and Caboolture to evacuate immediately. 
 
 ``The flood levels are expected to be greater than the 1974 floods. Do not stay in your homes please leave immediately,'' the police alert said. ``Cars should be moved from low-lying areas.'' 
 
 Inner-Brisbane suburbs New Farm, West End, Fortitude Valley and Bowen Hills are now being evacuated. 
 
 
 
 The Brisbane River has broken its banks at West End. Rivers and creeks throughout the region are still rising. 
 
 Laidley residents have been told to get out as rapidly rising water threatens the Lockyer Valley community west of Brisbane. 
 
 Water is rising quickly and properties are being inundated, posing an immediate danger to residents. 
 
 Emergency services have told people to leave their homes and move to either Laidley Hospital or Laidley Works Depot, Frome St, Laidley. 
 
 Evacuations are now being made int he suburbs of Forrest Hill, Laidley, West End, Strathpine, Caboolture, Toogoolawah and Esk. 
 
 The Ipswich City Council is now opening evacuation centres. 
 
 Bribie Island is also isolated, with all roads in and out cut off, whille there are reports of landslides at Dayboro and Mt Nebo. 
 
 Places facing floods include Ipswich, Moggill, Jindalee, West End, Caboolture, Pine Rivers, Amberley, Walloon, Rosewood, Kalbar, Boonah, Kilcoy and Aratula and through a wide arc south including Stanthorpe and NSW border areas. 
 
 Weather Bureau forecaster Peter Baddiley warned of fast river and creek rises west of Brisbane as flood waters from the Lockyer Valley and surrounding catchments move east. 
 
 This will impact the Brisbane and Bremer rivers and Lockyer and Warrill and Laidley creeks. 
 
 Mr Baddiley described floods in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley as shocking. 
 
 He said low lying area near creeks and rivers faced fast river rises as water moved from those regions into the Brisbane area. 
 
 ``We've got a continuing high but narrow rainfall band and are warning residents to move away ... to higher ground,'' he said. 
 
 ``We're not talking flash floods here (like Toowoomba). This will be over a slower time scale and the river will continue to rise for several days.'' 
 
 Rapid rises are being recorded along Tenthill Creek in the Lockyer, with the main flood waters at Lyons Bridge. Levels above 17m are forecast. 
 
 Flows from the Bremer and Lockyer catchments combined with releases from Wivenhoe dam will increase levels in Brisbane today. 
 
 At the Brisbane city gauge, minor flood levels of about 2.1 metres are expected 
 
 with the afternoon high tide and moderate flood levels of 2.6 metres with the overnight high tide. 
 
 Rises to 3.5 metres (major) are expected on Wednesday afternoon, with higher levels likely on Thursday. 
 
 The Moggill reach of the river will rise to at least 15 metres (moderate) Wednesday and 9 metres at Jindalee. 
 
 Police are advising people near the Brisbane River at West End to move to higher ground. 
 
 ""The Brisbane River has risen and we are starting to see the water enter streets in the low lying areas of West End." a police spokesman said. 
 
 Bureau of Meteorology spokesman Brett Harrison says tomorrow's high tide is likely to push the Brisbane River level to three metres. 
 
 
 
 Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says the flood threat is real and residents should heed the warning. 
 
 
 
 The Bremer River at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, is expected to peak at midday. 
 
 
 
 Several homes at Karalee are expected to be inundated but Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale says the city's central business district should not be affected. 
 
 
 
 This comes after Cr Newman warned yesterday that more water was flowing into the Wivenhoe Dam than the Brisbane River had received in the 1974 floods. 
 
 Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says more water will be released from Wivenhoe Dam today to try and reduce the flood threat. 
 
 
 
 "The releases being made from Wivenhoe Dam are not optional," she said. 
 
 The Brisbane City Council last night issued a warning for residents in more than 30 suburbs to expect flooding. 
 
 The 30 suburbs set to experience flooding tomorrow are: Albion, Auchenflower, Bowen Hills, Brisbane City, Bulimba, Chelmer, Coorparoo, East Brisbane, Fairfield, Fig Tree Pocket, Fortitude Valley, Graceville, Hemmant, Indooroopilly, Kangaroo Point, Lytton, Milton, Moggill, Murarrie, New Farm, Newstead, Norman Park, Oxley, Pinkenba, Rocklea, Sherwood, South Brisbane, Tennyson, Yeronga, Yerongpilly, Windsor and Wacol. 
 
 Council has asked residents in flood-prone areas to collect sandbags from the following locations: Darra Works Depot, Shamrock Rd, Darra; Morningside Works Depot, Redfern Street, Morningside; Newmarket SES Depot, Wilston Rd, Newmarket and Zillmere Works Depot, Jennings Street, Zillmere.
– Australia’s vast floods shut down the center of Brisbane today, sending thousands fleeing and others to stores in a panicked rush of food hoarding. Rescuers, meanwhile, combed the area for 43 people who have gone missing. Brisbane is the country’s third-largest city, home to 2 million people. Floodwaters are expected to peak before sunrise tomorrow, inundating roughly 20,000 homes and thousands of other buildings, the LA Times reports. “We are in the grip of a very serious natural disaster,” the premier of Queensland tells Reuters. “Brisbane will go to sleep tonight and wake up to scenes many will never have seen before in their lives.” At least 12 people died yesterday when flash floods shot through the town of Toowoomba. “Suddenly (26 feet) of water just came up and went right through the central drain,” said one woman. “It just knocked cars around like little matchboxes in a bath—was just terrifying.”