Australia faces billions in damage and years of rebuilding from the floods

Flood water in Australia’s third largest city crest below feared  fatal levels on Thursday but Brisbane and other devastated regions faced years of rebuilding and even the threat of fresh floods in the weeks ahead. The capital of Queensland state looked a muddy lake, with an entire waterfront cafe among the debris washing down the Brisbane River, a cataclysm that has left 118,000 buildings without power and flooded 12,000 homes in the city.”All I could see was their rooftops. Underneath every one of those roofs is a family, underneath every single one of those rooftops is a horror story,” Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told reporters, after surveying the disaster from the air.”This morning as I look across not only the capital city, but three-quarters of my state, we are facing a reconstruction effort of post-war proportions,” Bligh said. According to latest  figures there are 78 are missing  and the floods have killed at least 18 people. The Lockyer Valley region have been completely devastate.With the wet season far from over officials warned of the real risk of further severe flooding in the coming weeks. Dams built to protect the city and surrounding regions are at breaking point.”Things have just been totally flattened, homes knocked completely to the floor. It’s total destruction,” said Grantham resident Ken Harme, speaking to Fairfax newspapers.Some economists are expecting $6 billion in damage from the floods that began last month in Queensland.Despite that, many of the city’s homes and  factories had only roof lines visible as residents, many of the residents evacuated to safety and woke to bright sunshine. Hundreds of onlookers gathered above the river to see the devastation at first light.