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Australia flood-wide

Extra police are being brought in to patrol vast flooded areas in Brisbane and Ipswich as the death toll from south-east Queensland’s devastating floods continues to rise.

The number of people confirmed dead in this week’s flood rose to 15 today with the recovery of bodies in the Brisbane suburb of Durack, at Myall Creek near Dalby on the western Darling Downs, and at Grantham in the Lockyer Valley.

Sixty-one people were still missing today, with police holding “grave fears” for 12 people who disappeared when homes were destroyed by a wall of water in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane late on Monday.

Huge areas of Brisbane and Ipswich remained underwater after the Brisbane River peaked at below the 1974 flood level early this morning.

City streets and thousands of homes were deserted and the river through the centre of Brisbane was a swirling, roaring, debris-strewn torrent.

An emotional Queensland Premier Anna Bligh fought back tears this morning as she appealed to Queenslanders not to lose hope in the face of the heartbreaking crisis.

“I want us to remember who we are,” she said.

“We are Queenslanders. We’re the people that they breed tough north of the border. We’re the ones that they knock down and we get up again.”

The Brisbane River hit a lower-than-expected peak of 4.46 metres this morning, inundating more than 20,000 homes and businesses across the capital.

The river has been easing today but is expected to rise to around 4.2 metres at 4:00pm before falling to around 3.2 metres with tomorrow’s 5:00am high tide.

More than 100,000 homes are without power across the city and to the west in Ipswich, where floodwaters are receding rapidly after yesterday’s peak.

“This morning as I look across not only the capital city, but three-quarters of my state, we are facing a reconstruction effort of post-war proportions,” Ms Bligh said.

And she warned that it could be “months” before some flood evacuees would be able to return to their homes.

The worst-hit suburbs included Brisbane City, St Lucia, West End, Rocklea and Graceville.

“There will be some people that will go into their homes that will find them to be never habitable again,” Ms Bligh said.

“We need to operationalise the CBD as soon as we can as it really in the nerve centre of (this reconstruction process).”

Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said police were putting “24/7” patrols on the streets in flood-hit areas of Brisbane and Ipswich for the next three weeks at least.

Two hundred police from Queensland and other states will be involved in the operation, starting on Monday.

But Commissioner Atkinson said there was no need for a curfew to discourage any opportunistic looters.

“I don’t personally believe there is a need for a curfew,” he said.

“Anyone that has concerns about looting should call Crime Stoppers.”

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said Brisbane would be split into five sectors as authorities began the recovery effort.

Councillor Newman also called for volunteers to help rebuild the city and asked tradespeople to come forward and volunteer their services.

‘Crying for three days’

Lina Cupo, who lives on James Street in New Farm, is now facing a clean-up after the bottom floor of her house flooded.

“It’s very scary, three days I’ve been crying. I think about other poor people. I am the lucky one,” she said.

A big crowd has gathered at New Farm, where Anthony Schiavon, who runs the fruit shop, has put on a free barbeque and is giving out free fruit.

“We have stuff that we’re going to lose. Last night heaps of people came down and helped save the village,” he said.

“So this is to say thank you for helping us. Instead of wasting this stuff, we’ll give it to those who need it most. We’ve had lots of customers come down and there’s people who haven’t eaten for two days, so they can come here.”

Saysana Fisourath just came back to her house but cannot even get down the street.

“We evacuated at midnight on Wednesday after the community’s evacuation alarm. We haven’t been back since and the water is now waist high so we can’t even walk through our street,” she said.

“I just wanted to come and see perhaps if we could go in. We tried to move everything up – it’s very scary not knowing if we can get back in.”

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott arrived in Brisbane this morning to survey the damage.

He described a sense of “guarded relief” at the lower-than-expected flood peak but said there was a huge clean-up ahead.

“Everyone in these areas, I suspect, will have something to do,” he said.

“There are hundreds of people calling the Brisbane City Council offering to volunteer, that’s the great Australian volunteer ethos at work.”

Mr Abbott also warned insurers, banks and governments to work with people and not get bogged down in red tape.

Dangerous debris

Huge amounts of debris are continuing to float down the river and a warning to shipping has been issued.

The SES dealt with 9,000 calls for help in the 24 hours to this morning, 6,000 of them from Brisbane.

Ms Bligh says it is difficult to say when power will be restored to the flooded areas.

“There will be some areas that will take some time to reconnect so we ask again for your patience,” she said.

Brisbane resident and former prime minister Kevin Rudd echoed Ms Bligh’s comments, saying the flood recovery effort would be immense and there was no room for politics in the process.

“This is a year where we cannot afford politics as usual,” he said.

“The rebuilding task, the reconstruction task, has to be done on a non-political basis – all levels of government fully shouldering their burden and without complaint.”

Related topics:

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## Anna Bligh, the Queensland premier, has been hailed for her leadership and grace under pressure during the flood crisis that is gripping Australian state.

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