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Rockhampton, Queensland turned into an island and partly submerged by the Fitzroy River following heavy rainfall and severe weather conditions.  This is just one small part of the widespread Queensland floods: tonight 11th January 2011, Brisbane is facing severe flooding

Read the news.com.au coverage: summary below

 

THE Fitzroy River at Rockhampton is hovering below its predicted peak, with authorities now saying the town will be spared further damage.

The river reached 9.2 metres yesterday afternoon, short of the 9.4m peak predicted.

"It is good news," Rockhampton Regional Council Mayor Brad Carter said.

The mayor was standing beside the town's water gauge while talking to reporters, saying the water hadn't moved past the 9.2m mark since sundown on Tuesday.

"It looks like it may have stabilised," Mr Carter said.

The 9.4m peak would have matched the 1954 flood but would have fallen short of the 10.11m reached in 1918.

The town of St George has also had their predicted peak revised downwards.

The Bureau of Meteorology had warned St George to brace for the Balonne River to peak possibly above 14 metres early next week, but it is now expected to stay under that level.

Mr Carter, who toured flood-hit areas of Rockhampton with water police on Wednesday, said many homes had water just below their floors.

If the river doesn't rise further, 200 homes will be saved from inundation and another 2000 properties won't be touched by water.

"It means the difference between serious water inundation and not," Mr Carter said.

Yesterday afternoon, 200 homes already had water above the floorboards and between 2000 and 3000 properties were affected.

About 120 people stayed in the evacuation centre overnight and a further 380 were seeking refuge with friends and family.

The weather bureau said the river isn't expected to rise much further.

"It's just going to wobble around 9.2m now," hydrologist Peter Baddiley told AAP.

A recovery task force has been created to start the clean-up and rebuilding from Queensland's floods that have caused $5 billion worth of damage and ripped towns apart.

Over the past 10 days, flooded rivers flowed into 40 communities, touching 200,000 people, inundating 1200 homes and affecting a further 10,700.

Rockhampton in central Queensland and St George in the southwest are the next to succumb to the rising tide, but Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the recovery started yesterday.

Ms Bligh said it's unclear what the price tag for the flooding will be until waters recede, but she's expecting it to top $5 billion.

Under the national disaster relief and recovery arrangements in Australia, the federal government will assume 75 per cent of the funding load, but that could be revised.

Relief for Rocky Rockhampton is preparing for the worst as residents evacuate homes to escape the rising Fitzroy River- but authorities believe the town has "dodged a bullet".

Earlier, Ms Stewart told the ABC a 14-metre peak would mean only about 30 homes would be affected.

She said much work had been done to prepare the community, including building additional levee banks, and there were points where the water would be able to get away.

He spoke of the need for new dams to prevent future disasters, with St George facing its second major flood in less than a year.

In March last year, St George and its satellite towns experienced what was said to be a once-in-a-century flood event, which peaked at 13.39 metres.

Banana Shire Council Mayor John Hooper says initially it might only be possible to chopper in and out a few people on Friday and Saturday to make an early start on the mammoth clean-up task.

Eighty-seven people were camped out at the evacuation centre last night and a further 500 locals have evacuated to friends and family, Rockhampton regional council Mayor Brad Carter said.

"If you are with us you are covered."

But other companies that routinely pay out for damage from flash flooding, storm water or rain water run-off specifically rule out "riverine" and inland flooding.

Fruit and veggies to go up Consumers face soaring fruit and vegetable prices as the fallout from the state's devastating floods starts to bite.