Australia's east coast a disaster zone following severe floods

Large parts of Australia's east coast have been declared natural disaster zones after torrential rain and rising floodwaters inundated thousands of homes, leaving whole towns cut off and two people dead.

Emergency services estimated that 21,500 people were isolated by the flooding, which has caused widespread evacuations from the Gold Coast in Queensland to the northern rivers region of New South Wales (NSW).

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While the extreme weather was easing there was still a risk of further flash-floods, the weather bureau warned.

"We could be talking weeks of inundation for some areas, if not longer," said an emergency service spokesman.

Flood warnings were in place for ten rivers in northern NSW. Residents of the coastal town of Kempsey were ordered to evacuate in the early hours of the morning before the Macleay River breached its levy, cutting off the town.

Nathan Rees, the NSW premier, has declared seven local government areas in the north of the state as disaster zones.

Large parts of the region's road network, including the Pacific highway which runs from Sydney to Brisbane, were also under water, further hampering evacuation efforts.

Steve Whan, the NSW emergency services minister, said that large parts of the city of Lismore remained flooded and that the mid-north coast town of Bellingen was isolated by floodwaters. Residents of the town of Grafton have also been told to evacuate. One woman had been airlifted from the area in order to undergo a kidney transplant, he said.

"Figures at the moment for people who are isolated are quite large so 21,600 people are still isolated and over 16,000 who have been affected by the calls for evacuation," he said.

"One of the key things is that we need to be able to see what damage has occurred and while the water levels are quite high that's sometimes quite hard to do," he said.

Following the discovery of the 70-year-old man's body, Mr Whan urged residents to be careful in the flood zone.

"I would again plead with people to follow the precise instructions of emergency services workers," he said.

"Exercise extreme caution when evacuating flood-affected areas, and never drive, ride, walk through or play in floodwaters."

Mr Whan said emergency services had conducted more than 100 rescues since the storms hit on Wednesday, including 33 flood rescues.

The emergency services had received about 2,000 calls for assistance.

Kevin Rudd, the prime minister, said the government would activate "all the necessary counter disaster arrangements" in response to the flooding.

The floods follow a once-in-a-century heatwave in southeastern Australia, in which more than 2,000 homes were razed by major wildfires and 173 people died.

Meteorologists have warned the extreme temperatures and downpours - a common feature of Australian summers - would only increase as a result of climate change.


Photo: (REUTERS/Michael Ross/Gold Coast Bulletin / Handout)