Residents began a long wait Thursday for floodwaters to subside and reveal the extent of devastation to Australia's third-largest city, while upstream soldiers picked their way through the debris of washed-away towns looking for more victims from one of the country's worst natural disasters. 
 
 An unidentified woman uses a hose to pump water out of an office in the city center of Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through Australia's third-largest city crested... (Associated Press) 
 
 Local residents walk through floodwater after getting ice and food to take to their flooded residence in the suburb of New Farm in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through... (Associated Press) 
 
 The statue of Queensland's famous former Rugby League star Wally Lewis fitted out with water wings, scuba mask and snorkel is seen outside the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane Australia, Wednesday Jan. 12,... (Associated Press) 
 
 The remains of a floating restaurant called Drift Cafe is swept down the Brisbane River Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011, as floodwaters surge through Brisbane, Australia. At least 22 people have died and more... (Associated Press) 
 
 An entire suburb is submerged outside Ipswich, west of Brisbane, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Emergency sirens blared across Australia's third-largest city Wednesday as floodwaters that have torn... (Associated Press) 
 
 A rescue helicopter flies over a flooded area in South East Queensland, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Deadly floodwaters flowed onto the streets in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland since drenching... (Associated Press) 
 
 A farm house destroyed by floodwaters stands in South East Queensland, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Deadly floodwaters flowed onto the streets in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland since drenching... (Associated Press) 
 
 A street is flooded in the city center of Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through Australia's third-largest city crested Thursday just shy of record levels but high... (Associated Press) 
 
 An unidentified woman climbs onto a wall to see the damage in her property after flood water reached the area in New Farm, Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through Australia's... (Associated Press) 
 
 A rescue worker, left, talks to an unidentified home owner as he starts cleaning after flood waters reached his home in New Farm, Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through... (Associated Press) 
 
 A shoe floats out of the front door of a flooded residence in the suburb of New Farm in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through Australia's third-largest city crested... (Associated Press) 
 
 A resident walks through floodwater to take food to stranded residents in the suburb of New Farm in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through Australia's third-largest... (Associated Press) 
 
 The remains of a floating restaurant called Drift Cafe is swept down the Brisbane River Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011, as floodwaters surge through Brisbane, Australia. At least 22 people have died and more... (Associated Press) 
 
 A car is wrecked in floodwaters outside the town of Grantham in South East Queensland, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Deadly floodwaters flowed onto the streets in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland... (Associated Press) 
 
 A police boat looks for survivors on the Brisbane River, Brisbane, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Deadly floodwaters that have cut a swath across northeastern Australia flowed onto the streets of... (Associated Press) 
 
 Debris float in front of a car park entrance in the center of Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through Australia's third-largest city crested Thursday just shy of record... (Associated Press) 
 
 A local resident talks on the phone inside his flooded home in Hawthorne in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through Australia's third-largest city crested Thursday just... (Associated Press) 
 
 A car wrecks outside the town of Grantham in South East Queensland, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. The small town was hit by flash flooding causing mass destruction. Deadly floodwaters that have... (Associated Press) 
 
 A vehicle is swept away in floodwaters in South East Queensland, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Deadly floodwaters flowed onto the streets in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland since drenching rains... (Associated Press) 
 
 A cyclist pedals past the Port Office Hotel in the city center of Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Floodwaters washing through Australia's third-largest city crested Thursday just shy of... (Associated Press) 
 
 The waters left behind tractor-trailers snapped in half, concrete slabs where houses used to be and a car hanging from a tree. 
 
 The slow-motion inundation of Brisbane overnight _ played out live on television before a nation transfixed _ was a critical moment in flooding that has built for weeks as rain fell incessantly across Australia's tropical northeast. 
 
 The emergency is not over, but Brisbane's escape from what forecasters had predicted would be a flood worse than one that laid waste to much of the city 37 years ago triggered relief nationwide. 
 
 The death toll stood at 25, including a 24-year-old man who drowned Thursday when he was sucked into a storm drain as he tried to check on his father's home in a swamped Brisbane neighborhood. Officials said they expect to find more bodies farther upstream as they finally got access to hamlets struck by flash flooding on Monday. 
 
 The deadly floodwaters began to recede Thursday after cresting about three feet (one meter) below the depth of 1974 floods that swept through Brisbane and set a benchmark for disaster. Still, 30,000 homes and business were swamped _ many all the way up to their terra-cotta roof tiles. Skyscrapers stood empty as downtown closed for a for a second day, and thousands remained huddled in evacuation centers or with friends and family on higher ground. 
 
 "Queensland is reeling this morning from the worst natural disaster in our history and possibly in the history of our nation," a visibly shaken state Premier Anna Bligh told reporters. "We've seen three-quarters of our state having experienced the devastation of raging floodwaters and we now face a reconstruction task of postwar proportions." 
 
 The flooding across Queensland has submerged dozens of towns _ some three times _ and left an area the size of Germany and France combined under water. Highways and rail lines have been washed away in the disaster, which is shaping up to be Australia's costliest. Damage estimates were already at $5 billion before the floodwaters swamped Brisbane. 
 
 At least 61 people are still missing, most of them from around Toowoomba, a city west of Brisbane that saw massive flash floods on Monday. Fourteen died in that flood alone, including two whose bodies were found on Thursday. Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart warned that number was likely to rise as search and rescue teams are able to move into more devastated areas. 
 
 "We've got to brace ourselves for more bad news," Stewart said. 
 
 With decent access to the region between Brisbane and Toowoomba for the first time, more than 200 police and soldiers fanned out across the stricken Lockyer Valley in buses, helicopters and amphibious military vehicles on Thursday. 
 
 At Postmans Ridge, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) west of Brisbane, about two dozen soldiers wearing jungle camouflage uniforms and police in dark coveralls picked their way methodically through large trees flattened along a creek banks and a floodplain strewn with debris. Tractor-trailers lay broken in two, boats were crushed and the body of a horse was wedged between a downed tree and the sodden ground. 
 
 Nearby, Barry and Catherine Bull boiled potatoes and cooked rump steak given to them by a neighbor over a gas-fired camp stove set up outside their house, built of brick and one of few left standing around them. All that remains of the neighbor's wood-framed house is the concrete slab. A car was suspended in the sagging branches of a tree. 
 
 They fear the elderly woman across the street is one of the people for whom the soldiers are searching. 
 
 "One of the neighbors went to get her, got her out of the house, but she went back for the dog," Catherine Bull said. "That was the last anyone saw of her. If you'd seen the torrent and the way the water was moving, I think you know the rest." 
 
 Officials told evacuated Brisbane residents it could be days before it was safe to return to inundated neighborhoods, though no bans were in place preventing people from surveying the damage. Some homes would never be habitable again. 
 
 Mayor Campbell Newman said 11,900 homes and 2,500 businesses had been completely inundated, with another 14,700 houses and 2,500 businesses at least partially covered in water. 
 
 Roads were flooded, railway lines were cut and sewage spilled into the floodwaters. People moved about in kayaks, rowboats and even on surfboards. 
 
 Police officers were patrolling Brisbane's flooded streets around the clock. Three men were charged with looting after police said they tried to steal dinghies from the swollen river. 
 
 Despite the devastation, many in Brisbane were thankful the river running through the city had spared them the worst of its fury. 
 
 Lisa Sully, who lives in the nearby suburb of Sherwood, did have some water in her home _ but she still felt lucky on Thursday. 
 
 "I can handle this," she said. "Mentally, I was prepared for worse." 
 
 The death toll has shocked Australians, no strangers to deadly natural disasters such as the wildfires that killed 173 in a single day two years ago. 
 
 Though the full extent of the damage won't be known until the water is gone, even before Brisbane was threatened, Bligh estimated a cleanup and rebuilding to total about $5 billion. 
 
 Add to that, the damage to economy: Queensland's coal industry has virtually shut down, costing millions in deferred exports and sending global prices higher. Vegetables, fruit and sugarcane crops in the rich agricultural region have been wiped out, and prices are due to skyrocket as a result. ||||| Military helicopters searched Tuesday for scores of people missing after a tsunami-like wall of water ripped through an Australian valley, tossing cars like toys in the deadliest episode of a weekslong flood crisis. 
 
 Local resident move a boat to a safe place as the Brisbane river burst it's banks to cause widespread flooding in Brisbane, Australia, on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Queensland has been in the grip of its... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man is rescued by emergency workers after he was stranded clinging to a tree on a flooded street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man is rescued by emergency workers after he was stranded clinging to a tree on a flooded street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man watches from in a lawn mower business as water flows past in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community Monday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Local residents move to higher ground as the Brisbane river burst its banks to cause widespread flooding in Brisbane, Australia, on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Queensland has been in the grip of its worst... (Associated Press) 
 
 Floodwaters rush along train tracks and an adjacent street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. It is the latest drama for the water-weary state, which has been devastated... (Associated Press) 
 
 People wade up to their waists in water at a street corner in Toowoomba, Australia, as a flash flood carries vehicles past them Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through a northeastern Australian... (Associated Press) 
 
 Tow truck workers clear vehicles from a street in Toowoomba, Australia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, following a flash flood. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing one woman,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Two vehicles are abandoned on a street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community Monday, overturning cars and... (Associated Press) 
 
 People survey the damage after a flash flood tossed vehicles down a street in Toowoomba, Australia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing one... (Associated Press) 
 
 People cling to railings and metal fences on a flooded street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing... (Associated Press) 
 
 People survey the damage after a flash flood tossed vehicles down a street in Toowoomba, Australia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing one... (Associated Press) 
 
 At least ten people were killed and 78 still unaccounted for almost 24 hours after the flash flood hurled untold millions of gallons of water down Queensland state's Lockyer Valley on Monday, state Premier Anna Bligh said. Authorities had grave fears for at least 18 of the missing, she said. 
 
 The valley funneled rain from a freak storm _ forecasters estimated up to 6 inches (150 millimeters) fell in half an hour near Toowoomba city _ into a stream that formed a path of destruction, lifting houses from foundations. 
 
 The torrent slowed and spread out as it moved downstream toward the state capital of Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city with some 2 million people. 
 
 The Brisbane River overflowed its banks Tuesday and officials warned that thousands of houses in dozens of low-lying neighborhoods and parts of the downtown area could be inundated by Thursday. 
 
 "This is a truly dire set of circumstances for the people of Queensland, with more flooding to come," Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television. She said she had been "absolutely shocked" by television footage of Monday's flash flood. 
 
 The violent surge near Toowoomba on Monday escalated Australia's flood crisis in Queensland state and brought the overall death toll to 20. Until then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen rivers burst their banks and inundated towns while moving downstream toward the ocean. 
 
 Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley, and thousands moved out of were being evacuated. In one small community in the path of the floodwaters, Forest Hill, the entire population of about 300 was airlifted to safety in military helicopters, Bligh said. 
 
 In Ipswich, a town of 15,000 people between Toowoomba and Brisbane, hundreds of residents moved in with friends and family or into an evacuation center on high ground as officials warned the swollen Bremer River would flood dozens of homes overnight Tuesday, Mayor Paul Pisasale said. 
 
 As Tuesday progressed, the death toll rose from eight to ten. At an evening afternoon news conference, Bligh said officials held grave fears for 18 of the 78 people missing. She did not elaborate. 
 
 The search and rescue effort was being hampered by thunderstorms and more driving rain, though the bad weather eased during the day and Bligh said the search would get easier on Wednesday. 
 
 Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman said authorities were preparing for about 6,500 properties to be inundated by about 3 feet (1 meter) of water in the next few days, affecting about 15,000 people in 80 suburbs. The flood peak was expected on Thursday, when parts of downtown were expected to be awash. 
 
 The city is protected by a large dam built upstream after floods devastated downtown in 1974. But the reservoir was full, and officials had no choice but to release water that would cause low-level flooding in the city, Newman said. The alternative was a much worse torrent. 
 
 Bligh said five children were among those killed and that many of those still stranded or unaccounted for are families and young children. On Tuesday morning, she said the death toll was eight and the missing numbered 72, and revised those numbers later. The most recently recorded death was that of a boy, who was swept away in the floodwaters. 
 
 Queensland has been in the grip of its worst flooding for more than two weeks, after tropical downpours across a vast area of the state covered an area the size of France and Germany combined. Entire towns have been swamped, more than 200,000 people affected, and coal and farming industries virtually shut down. 
 
 "The power of nature can still be a truly frightening power and we've seen that on display in this country," Gillard told reporters earlier in Canberra. 
 
 The floods reached a second state on Tuesday. Floodwaters bloated by driving rain in recent days cut roads to several towns in northern New South Wales state near the border with Queensland. About 4,500 people were cut off, the State Emergency Services said, though the situation was not yet as dire as in Queensland. 
 
 Monday's flash flooding struck without warning in Toowoomba, a city of some 90,000 people nestled in mountains 2,300 feet (700 meters) above sea level. Bligh said an intense deluge fell over a concentrated area, sending a 26-foot (eight-meter), fast-moving torrent crashing through Toowoomba and smaller towns further down the valley. 
 
 Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described the events Monday as "an inland instant tsunami." 
 
 As the water was pushed its way downstream, officials closed roads and highways and told residents in low-lying area of Brisbane to sandbag their homes and then move to higher ground. 
 
 "We have a grim and desperate situation," Bligh said. "This took everybody so unawares that there was no opportunity in most cases for people to get to safety." 
 
 Heavy rain continued Tuesday, and the Bureau of Meteorology warned that more flash floods could occur. 
 
 Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said rescue efforts were concentrated on towns between Toowoomba and Brisbane, including hardest-hit Murphy's Creek and Grantham, where about 30 people sought shelter in a school isolated by the floodwaters. 
 
 News video from late Monday showed houses submerged to the roof line in raging muddy waters, with people clambering on top. A man, woman and child sat on the roof of their car as waters churned around them. 
 
 In Toowoomba, the waters disappeared almost as fast as they arrived, leaving debris strewn throughout downtown and cars piled atop one another. 
 
 Queensland officials have said the ultimate cost of the weekslong flooding could be as high as $5 billion. ||||| Major portions of Brisbane resembled a watery ghost town Thursday as muddy waters from the overflowing Brisbane River inundated Australia's third-largest city, part of massive flooding throughout Queensland state that has left officials and residents reeling.In Brisbane, a city of 2 million, 11,900 homes and 2,500 businesses were completely flooded, an additional 14,700 houses and 2,500 businesses were at least partly covered by water, and 120,000 houses were without power, Mayor Campbell Newman said. One man was killed after being swept into a storm drain.Across Queensland, more than 20 people have died, dozens of towns have been submerged — some three times since late November — and more than 74 people are missing across an area the size of Germany and France that is still under water. The death toll is expected to rise as water recedes and officials make grim discoveries.More than 2.5 million residents have been affected by the flooding that, according to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, has caused at least $5 billion worth of damage, forced the evacuation of tens of thousands and may leave many homeless for months."Some people will return to their homes to discover they will never be habitable again," Bligh said.The Brisbane River peaked at about 14.5 feet Thursday — about three feet below the worst fears of officials, although Bligh said the rebuilding process was likely to be of "postwar" proportions.Entire neighborhoods have been devastated, and water remains above the roofs of many buildings. Citizens braved the elements in kayaks, rowboats, even surfboards.Lucinda Kent, 19, said Thursday that while "everything is looking better this morning," her home was still without power, and they were concerned about the water supply.The flooding was "pretty nerve-racking," she said. An aunt trapped in an apartment building in the city had called her parents to ask for help, but it was too late to do anything "because all the bridges are out.""It was definitely scary," Kent said.Analysts said Queensland's coal industry has been virtually shut down, costing millions of dollars in deferred exports and sending global prices higher. Vegetable, fruit and sugarcane crops in the rich agricultural region have been wiped out, and prices are expected to skyrocket as a result.In the Lockyer Valley area west of Brisbane, a flash flood swept through the town of Toowoomba this week, killing at least 14 people and leaving more than 70 missing.Poor weather has continued to hamper rescue operations there and in other parts of the state.Police have warned that there are likely to be gruesome finds, and Bligh said the country should brace for disturbing discoveries in the days ahead."I don't think anything can prepare any of us for what we might see in the Lockyer Valley," she said in one of a series of news conferences she has been holding every two hours over the last few days.Queensland police earlier had declined to comment on suggestions that there was a "mass grave" underneath a bridge in the Lockyer Valley town of Grantham, which police have cordoned off as they search for bodies."The problem we have is that the people have been washed out of their homes, and some of the homes are actually destroyed, like bombs have gone off there," Ian Stewart, Queensland's deputy police commissioner, told Australian television Thursday. "It's a war scene in the Lockyer Valley today."
– With floodwaters starting to recede, the toll in Australia is at 25 and expected to climb given the dozens of people still missing, reports the AP. As the state's premier put it: "Queensland is reeling this morning from the worst natural disaster in our history and possibly in the history of our nation. We face a reconstruction task of postwar proportions." As the nation assesses the damage, tales of daring rescues and heroism are emerging: In Toowoomba, 13-year-old Jordan Rice is being hailed as a hero for asking rescuers to get his brother to safety first. By the time they returned to the family's submerged car, it was too late to save Jordan and his mother, reports AOL News, which rounds up local coverage. Click for more on Jordan. When a helicopter owned by mining magnate Clive Palmer set out to rescue three employees near Brisbane, it noticed scores of other people trapped on roofs. It went back, again and again, and ended up saving 60 people, reports the Telegraph. A reddit.com photo popular on BuzzFeed shows a man carrying a small kangaroo to safety. Click for image.