Queensland Starts Military Airlift Amid `Biblical' Floods
By Robert Fenner - Jan 2, 2011 9:44 PM ET
Queensland called in the military to help tackle floods that have cut off towns, killed at least two people and affected 200,000 more in Australia’s third-most populous state.
Military planes will fly supplies into the city of Mackay before transporting them by the only major road open into Rockhampton, Premier Anna Bligh said in an e-mailed statement today. Rockhampton, home to more than 75,000 people about 500 kilometers (300 miles) north of the state capital, Brisbane, is cut off from rail and air links and roads to the south and west.
Towns across Queensland in Australia’s northeast have been evacuated as flooding spreads over an area the size of France and Germany combined with further heavy rainfall forecast. The disaster is of “biblical proportions” with the state facing the cost of rebuilding damaged infrastructure such as washed out roads and bridges, Treasurer Andrew Fraser said.
“Resupply efforts will continue to be a priority for the Queensland government and disaster management authorities,” Bligh said today. “Unfortunately it will be a long time before this massive amount of water recedes.”
The Fitzroy river at Rockhampton is currently at 9 meters and is expected to peak at 9.4 meters within 48 hours, which will cut off the last road into the city, Bligh said.
Bligh last week said the floods will cost “billions” while the state is facing a hit to its budget of at least A$800 million ($815 million) to rebuild infrastructure as well as lost mine royalty payments. The premier called the state’s cabinet for an emergency meeting on Jan. 5 to plan rebuilding efforts.
Coal Output Halted
Weeks of rain destroyed cotton crops, halted coal deliveries, shut mines and prompted BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group to declare force majeure, a legal clause allowing them to miss contracted deliveries.
Operations remain suspended at the affected mines, Bruce Tobin, a spokesman for Rio Tinto, and Kelly Quirke, a BHP Billiton spokeswoman, said today.
“This reduced supply could drive metallurgical coal prices higher,” Bryan Yu, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in New York, said in a Jan. 2 report.
The body of a 38-year old man swept from his boat on the Boyne river was found today while yesterday a 41-year old woman’s body was recovered after her car was swept into a river at Burketown in the state’s northwest, state police said.
Flood alerts are in place for at least 10 rivers in Queensland after some regions recorded record rainfall during December, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
“Water levels are expected to stay about 8.5 meters for up to 10 days after the peak,” Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said in a statement today.
Credit Threat
States of natural disaster have been declared in 41 of Queensland’s 73 municipalities covering about a million square kilometers (366,000 square miles).
Higher spending on disaster relief may pose a threat to Fraser’s efforts to regain the AAA credit rating the state lost in 2009. Queensland has nearly completed A$15 billion of asset sales to win back the top rating from Standard & Poor’s.
New South Wales and Victoria, the nation’s most populous states, offered relief personnel to help with the flood response with 25 specialists being sent to help.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced payments of as much as A$1,000 per person for those that have lost their homes while grants of up to A$25,000 may be provided to small businesses and farmers.
The cash grants will help pay cleanup expenses and recovery costs including providing feed to stranded livestock while employers may be eligible for concessional loans worth up to A$250,000, Gillard told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio today.
While coastal areas such as Rockhampton may not yet feel the full effect of the floods, inland areas are starting to recover after peak water levels passed.
The town of Emerald, located about 270 kilometers inland from Rockhampton, reopened some roads although residents aren’t being encouraged to return to their homes, the Central Highlands municipal government said on its website.
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