Victorian health officials are warning residents to practise strong hygiene while floodwaters inundate towns. Officials say there’s a high risk of gastrointestinal diseases from the floodwaters and mosquito-borne diseases from the stagnant water that will follow the floods. Forty-six Victorian townships are affected by the floodwaters.

 

In the Lockyer Valley, the grim search for bodies continues with the death toll from the Queensland floods now standing at 18. Fourteen people are still missing. In inland southern Queensland, some communities are facing more flooding. The town of Condamine has been inundated with the Condamine River reaching more than 14.6 metres yesterday.

 

Queensland’s state cabinet will meet today to devise a plan to rebuild the state in the wake of the devastating floods. The Premier Anna Bligh says the scale of the disaster means more than two million Queenslanders are now living in areas affected by flooding. In Brisbane, the focus for today is on continuing of the big clean-up.