Eight Killed in Queensland Flash Floodsaap

Eight killed in Queensland flash floodsAAP

January 11, 2011, 7:22 am

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Parts of the city of Toowoomba were devastated by tsunami-like flash flooding, which has also left a trail of destruction in the Lockyer Valley at the foot of the Toowoomba range.

Atrocious weather forced authorities to suspend efforts to reach dozens of people stranded on rooftops and at other locations in the valley on Monday night.

The focus of concern is the valley communities of Grantham, where about 40 people were trapped on Monday night, and Withcott, where people spent the night on rooftops.

Nine Network reporter Cameron Price is at Grantham and told the ABC the town had been devastated.

"The town is like a cyclone has gone through it," he said.

"There are houses that are completely collapsed, cars that are halfway up trees, homes a kilometre away from where they were.

"The terrible news from here is that they took the bodies of two small children from the waters, they are the fifth and sixth victims here so far."

On Premier Anna Bligh on Tuesday morning said eight people had died in the Toowoomba area and another 11 were missing.

She said wet weather was hampering the rescue efforts and the search for the 11 missing people.

Earlier, police said the dead included a woman and a boy, whose bodies were found in the Toowoomba CBD.

A man and a boy were also dead after being washed away in, or from a house, at the valley community of Murphys Creek.

Heavy rain across the whole of southeast Queensland on Tuesday will worsen the flood disaster and hamper search and rescue efforts for dozens of people missing or stranded.

The weather bureau says heavy rain will continue across the whole of southeast Queensland on Tuesday, and this could lead to more flash flooding.

The rain will last for most of the day, a Bureau of Meteorology forecaster told AAP.

"We expect the system to weaken late today or tomorrow," he said.

A severe weather warning was issued early on Tuesday, saying heavy falls may lead to localised flash flooding and/or worsen existing river flooding.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected to continue through the Southeast Coast, Darling Downs and Granite Belt, the far southern parts of the Wide Bay and Burnett and eastern parts