As the estimated economic loss in Queensland’s flooding disaster grew to five billion Australian dollars (€3.75 billion) yesterday, the state government looked to the future and appointed an army major general to lead a recovery taskforce.
"I don't want to waste a second in the huge recovery and rebuilding taskforce ahead of us," Queensland premier Anna Bligh said. "This is a disaster of an unprecedented scale and it will require an unparalleled rebuilding effort . . . This is a very serious job ahead of us recovering from a disaster like this . . . Rebuilding regional Queensland will be a marathon, not a sprint."
Taskforce head Maj Gen Mick Slater will visit affected communities in the coming days. "If we rush in and do patch-up jobs . . . then we will have got it wrong. We must get it right from the start and that will take some time," he said. "It's very important we get it right the first time."
Ms Bligh said the cost of the flooding will not be clear until waters recede. "If you count everything from the cost to homes, the home rebuilding effort, public infrastructure rebuilding effort and economic loss, I think we're well above $5 billion territory," she said.
More than 200,000 people in 40 communities across Queensland – in an area greater than France and Germany combined – have been affected by the floods.
About 1,200 homes have been inundated by floodwaters, with another 10,700 homes affected and 4,000 residents evacuated.
Ten people have died during the disaster.
Opposition MPs from the National Party have called for a national disaster fund to be set up. The fund, which would be financed through a levy on household insurance policies or council rates, could be activated during a disaster to help victims. "It would be activated in a flood," said Queensland senator Ron Boswell. "Maybe the government would have to come in and assist it. But they are assisting now."
Parts of the central Queensland city of Rockhampton were still in lockdown last night, though the floodwaters peaked at 9.2m (30ft) rather than the expected 9.4m. But the bureau of meteorology has forecast further rain and storms.
"The thunderstorms are probably more of a flash-flooding risk, but the widespread falls of up to 50mm could provide enough inflow to give some kind of river rises in the next few days," said senior forecaster Tony Auden.
The flood will leave 400 homes in Rockhampton (population 75,000) with water above their floorboards, while about 4,000 properties will have water flowing through their yards.
The rising waters have also meant snakes are moving to higher ground and sightings are on the rise in all the affected areas.
"I've heard a report from one homestead where they had an area of ground the size of a football field around their property on high ground, and the only people there were the two owners and about 1,000 snakes," said Queensland's state disaster co-ordinator Ian Stewart.
"It must have been an amazing scene."