Brisbane flood levels reach peak

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

The Australian city of Brisbane has woken to widespread flooding, although the peak level is a metre lower than feared, officials say.

The Brisbane River peaked at 4.46m (14.6ft) just before 0530 (1930GMT Wednesday), compared with 5.4m (17.7ft) in the 1974 floods.

However, dozens of suburbs and thousands of properties are inundated.

The death toll in Queensland's flooding stands at 13 so far, with dozens more reported missing.



Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12173846

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A couple of videos at the link, preceded by 15-sec ads

[mackerel]

1. My boyfriend is worried about the bull sharks. Has there

been any mentioned of them? Apparently they swim up and down the Brisbane River.

[some guy]

2. I was watching some video

Tuesday. The water was carrying cars along.

I'm guessing the bull sharks are doing whatever the water wants them to do as well.

Hopefully they found deep holes to hide in and won't be washed into shallow areas that recede and leave them on dry land.

[Swagman]

3. lots of lots of bloody big snakes !

[Violet_Crumble]

6. It's the spiders that worry me...

And all it takes for them to invade homes looking for somewhere dry is a little bit of rain, which Canberra's had a fair bit of this last week. Snakes aren't a problem for me, not now that I found out the fat and largish creature that visits my backyard looks like a snake, but on closer inspection has little tiny legs that automatically make me less fearful of it...

[Esra Star]

4. Exactly what is your boyfriend worried about?

I'm sure there is the occasional shark in the river, but there hasn't been a mention of any sharks for some time.

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Apparently the BBC was reporting sharks cruising down suburban Brisbane streets...

I thought the bullsharks were a problem in the canals along the Gold Coast, not in the Brisbane River, but I imagine these rare Brisbane River sharks can defy currents strong enough to carry along 300m long chunks of boardwalk, and they can fight that current and gracefully exit the river into the calmer waters of a low-lying riverside suburb...

I hope yr home's in an area that hasn't had any flooding. What do you think about how Anna Bligh's handled this? I was reading an article this morning comparing how incredible and genuine she's been to Julia Gillard's rather stilted and forced non-stop cliches, and Bligh's never impressed me all that much, but my opinion of her has totally changed now...

[Esra Star]

7. I think the shark thing is just the product of the general trauma.

It will be forgotten pretty quickly. Maybe it's just a response to the exaggerated "looting"
stories.
I've always admired Anna Bligh and she seems to be handling the whole thing very well.
The plan to have a press conference every two hours is just amazing. The main idea of the constant updates is so that wild rumours are kept to a minimum.
Kevvy is back to being himself, which is good to see.
Julia is still learning, but she will probably get a lot out of this as well.
John Paul Langbroek is MIA. Tony Abbott seems to be desperate for some on camera time.
When it's all over there will be the usual dogfight, but that's normal.
As far as my own situation is concerned, I'm high and dry as is about 80% of the city.
Cheers