© AP Photo/Anthony SkermanA wallaby stands on a large round hay bale, trapped by rising flood waters outside the town of Dalby in Queensland, Australia on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010
Officials were only beginning to see the scope of the damage as river levels across Queensland started dropping despite new thunderstorms. Floodwaters were expected to stay high in many areas for at least another week and officials warned evacuated residents to stay away from their waterlogged homes.
"It's important for the community to remember that this event is not over yet," said Brad Carter, mayor of the inundated city of Rockhampton, which has evacuated 500 people. "Those residents who were required to evacuate their homes will not be able to return to their homes until the flood waters recede."
Four thousand people across Queensland have been evacuated from their homes since driving rains that began just before Christmas left much of the region under a sea of murky water. Around 1,200 homes have been inundated, with another 10,700 suffering damage in the flood zone, an area greater than France and Germany combined.
© Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty ImagesThe swollen Burnett River cuts the sugar cane town of Bundaberg in two and submerges Harriett Island on December 30, 2010
© Mechielsen Lyndon/AFP/Getty ImagesRising floodwaters spread across the runway of the airport at Rockhampton, in eastern Queensland, Australia on January 2, 2011.
© Reuters/Daniel MunozA snake crosses the Capricorn Highway which is under floodwaters 6km south of Rockhampton, Australia on January 3, 2011.
© Mechielsen Lyndon/AFP/Getty ImagesRising floodwaters spread through the low-lying suburb of Depot Hill in Rockhampton, in eastern Queensland on January 2, 2011.
© Reuters/Daniel MunozA girl falls in the mud as her sister and father remove damaged belongings from their home affected by floodwater in Bundaberg, Queensland January 1, 2011.
© Reuters/Daniel MunozFarm crops are seen flooded near the town of Theodore in Queensland, Australia January 2, 2011. Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded on Sunday in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge.
© Reuters/Daniel MunozA fish is seen on the Capricorn Highway, which is partially submerged under floodwaters, 6 km (3.7 miles) south of Rockhampton, January 3, 2011. Military aircraft flew supplies to an Australian town slowly disappearing beneath floodwaters on Monday, as record flooding in the country's northeast continues to cut coal exports and devastate wheat production.
© Jono Searle/AFP/Getty ImagesThis aerial photo taken on December 31, 2010 shows the Fairbairn Dam spilling into the Queensland town of Emerald, illustrating the extent of flooding across the area.
© Reuters/Daniel MunozAgricultural machinery is seen on an isolated island surrounded by flood waters near the town of Emerald in Australia's state of Queensland January 2, 2011.
© AP/Lake Burrendong Sport and Recreation Centre/Tracy WoodsRodney Dowton ferries a boatload of kangaroos through floodwaters near Wellington, Australia.
© Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty ImagesScott Wogandt and his son Mitchell kayak past flooded cars in Bundaberg on December 31, 2010.
© Jeff Camden/AFP/Getty ImagesFlood waters cover the land near Warwick, Queensland on December 28, 2010.
© Reuters/Daniel MunozSignboards are partially submerged by floodwater in Bundaberg, Queensland December 31, 2010.
© Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty ImagesSix-year-old Jake Thompson looks at flood waters that have engulfed Alexander Street in Bundaberg on December 31, 2010.
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