THE SQUIZ
“A natural disaster of unprecedented proportions” is continuing to unfold in Queensland and NSW with epic flooding that just won’t quit. The Federal Government has declared it a disaster, and Defence Force personnel have been deployed to assist.

WHAT’S WHAT?
Let’s start in northern NSW, where 62,000 people are under evacuation orders and warnings. Late yesterday, officials say 400 people are missing or need to be rescued in Lismore – that’s a lot for Emergency Services and citizens with boats to handle as they spent yesterday retrieving people from roofs across the city. To get a sense of how big Lismore’s flood is, these pictures help. And so do the numbers: Wilsons River reached 14.4m yesterday – more than 2m higher than the previous record set in 1954. It’s down to the incredible amount of rain the area has received in a short period of time. Yesterday, an official rain gauge north of Lismore recorded 775mm – the second-highest daily rainfall total in NSW’s history. And Lismore’s not the only town in trouble – Murwillumbah, Mullumbimby and Grafton are also flooding. More bad weather is expected today as the nasty piece of work weather system that belted Queensland heads south.

AND WHAT’S HAPPENING IN QUEENSLAND?
The Brisbane River reached its peak as expected yesterday morning recording 3.85m – happily under the anticipated 4m. There will be another worrying high tide in the centre of the capital this morning, and low-lying areas will remain flooded this week as authorities release water from the Wivenhoe Dam. So, conditions remain dangerous in Brisbane (as this run-away crane demonstrates), but the water is falling… Looking north to Gympie and Maryborough and south to the Gold Coast, an estimated 18,000 homes have been affected by floodwaters. A total of 8 people have died in these floods in Queensland so far. “The rain has stopped now, which is a welcome change, but we’re certainly not out of the woods yet,” Brissie Mayor Adrian Schrinner said yesterday.