Facts On The Flood Crisis/Mystery Infection (Queensland Floods)

These fast facts show how things are progressing with the flood crisis. Check the number of missing persons, homes and businesses affected and find information on essential services.

Deaths:- A total of 18 confirmed so far.
Official list from Queensland police

Missing:- 14 people remain missing in the Toowoomba/Lockyer Valley area with grave fears held for all 14, including the members of two families at Murphys Creek.

Brisbane:-  At the flood peak 11,900 homes and 2500 businesses completely flooded.  At the flood peak 14,700 homes and 2500 businesses partially flooded.  67 suburbs affected.

Ipswich:-  At the peak more than 2000 homes and 1000 businesses affected by flooding. 179 people still sheltering in evacuation centres.

Regional Centres:-  More than 86 towns and cities across Queensland affected by flooding.

Goondiwindi:-danger passes with the Macintyre River peaking at  10.64m, just below the 11m levee bank, on Friday afternoon, evacuees all returned home, nursing-home residents expected back on Monday.

Condamine:-  Remains evacuated as Condamine River rises again, with an expected peak of 14.8m over Sunday night/Monday morning, with new concerns over speed of flow of river.
River levels falling at Dalby, Chinchilla, Gympie, Maryborough and Rockhampton, and Bundaberg.
Homes flooded at Fernvale, in the Brisbane Valley, after a quarry collapsed.

Volunteers:-  12,000 registered volunteers in Brisbane on Saturday; more than 10,000 on Sunday.
More than 62,000 volunteers registered with Volunteering Queensland.
More than 20,000 homes and businesses in Brisbane, Ipswich and the Lockyer and Brisbane Valleys are still without electricity supply.

Read the full story in the “Courier Mail”

Fear Over Mystery Infection

Five patients are being treated in Queensland hospitals for a mystery infectious disease believed to be flood-related.
The news comes as concern mounts for thousands of people cleaning up after the floods and exposing themselves to bacteria and viruses. Drug treatments for melioidosis have been given to some of the five patients of whom four are in Rockhampton and one is being treated in Brisbane after visiting Rockhampton.

“We have five cases of people who were involved in the floods in the Rockhampton, Theodore, Moura area who have developed infections of some sort,” Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said yesterday.

“We don’t know what it is, we are still waiting on results from those tests.”Dr Young said doctors were “doing a whole herd of tests” to diagnose the disease.
She said she was extremely concerned about infection after seeing many people walking in flood waters and mud without proper protection. Meanwhile, a warning has been issued to GPs by their peak body that up to 70 per cent of people associated with Queensland floods are expected to become sick – either physically or mentally.

Read the full story in the “Courier Mail”

See more photo’s at the Courer Mail photo gallery
Also photo’s at The Australian photo gallery.

Please everyone be extra careful while out and about cleaning up, don’t forget what was in these flood waters, dead animals, sewage, petrol, oil, rubbish from everywhere including household bins, and who knows what else, it is not “clean sludge.” If possible wear long rubber boots, long plastic gloves, and shower extremely well when you are finished. Take every precaution that is humanly possible, and don’t touch your face with your dirty gloves, just be extra careful.