Australia 2011

3. Resident Anne Smart sits on the step of her flooded house after rainwaters the day before inundated the city of Ipswich, some 40 kms southwest of the Queensland city of Brisbane on Wednesday. Australia's third-biggest city Brisbane was besieged on January 12 by once-in-a-century floods that could hit up to 20,000 homes, as fears grew up to 25 people were killed by raging torrents. Eddie Safarik / AFP - Getty Images   

4. Helen and Trevor Goschnick mop up the aftermath of a metre of flood waters that flowed through their Fernvale home near Ipswich, some 40 kms southwest of the Queensland city of Brisbane on January 12. Australia's third-biggest city Brisbane was besieged by the worst floods in decades, threatening more than 30,000 homes as the death toll in raging torrents rose to 12. Eddie Safarik / AFP - Getty Images

5. Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images  - Local residents from the Brisbane suburb of Milton watch on as their neighbourhood is flooded on January 12 in Brisbane, Australia. Twelve people so far have been confirmed dead in towns in the Lockyer Valley and many more are reported missing after devastating floods inundated the region. Evacuations are underway in several towns and suburbs in and around Brisbane with residents and emergency services fearing the worst floods in over 35 years.

6. Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard flies in a Black Hawk helicopter as she views flooding near the northern Australian city of Rockhampton, in this January 8, 2011 handout photograph. Gillard pledged financial support for Australia's flood-hit northeast on Saturday during a tour of the most heavily inundated parts of Queensland state, but warned the recovery would be slow.

7. Flash floodwaters cover a street in Toowoomba, Queensland January 10, 2011. Residents in Australia's third largest city, Brisbane, sandbagged their homes against rising waters on Monday, as police warned people in smaller outlying towns to be ready to abandon homes as forecasters predicted more heavy rain. REUTERS/Nicole Alayne Hammermeister

8. Flash floodwaters cover a street in Toowoomba, Queensland January 10, 2011. Residents of low-lying parts of Australia's third largest city, Brisbane, sandbagged their homes against rising waters on Monday as torrential rain exacerbated record floods that have paralysed the coal industry in the northeast and now threaten tourism. REUTERS/Daniel Breeze

9. Flash floodwaters cover a street in Toowoomba, Queensland January 10, 2011. Residents of low-lying parts of Australia's third largest city, Brisbane, sandbagged their homes against rising waters on Monday as torrential rain exacerbated record floods that have paralysed the coal industry in the northeast and now threaten tourism. REUTERS/Daniel Breeze

10. Local residents inspect a road that collapsed when a flash flood swept through Toowoomba, 105km (65 miles) west of Brisbane January 10, 2011. Residents of low-lying parts of Australia's third largest city, Brisbane, sandbagged their homes against rising waters on Monday as torrential rain exacerbated record floods that have paralysed the coal industry in the northeast and now threaten tourism. REUTERS/Alicia Morrison

11. flash flood sweeps cars against a bridge on a street in Toowoomba, about 105km (65 miles) west of Brisbane January 10, 2011. Picture taken January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Anthony Farmer

12. A flash flood sweeps vehicles down a street in Toowoomba, 105 km (65 miles) west of Brisbane January 10, 2011. Australian police have launched a major search and rescue operation after devastating flash floods killed eight people, left scores missing and threatened on Tuesday to swamp the country's third-largest city Brisbane. Picture taken January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Ann-Marie Ryan

13. People are seen on the rooftop of a house in Grantham, a township between Toowomba and Brisbane, in this still image taken from video January 10, 2011. Tsunami-like flash floods raced towards Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of its outskirts, flood warnings for the financial district and predictions that the death toll is likely to climb. REUTERS/Nine Network via Reuters TV

14. Two State Emergency Service (SES) workers stand on the railway above destroyed vehicles after a flash flood swept through Toowoomba, 105 km (65 miles) west of Brisbane January 10, 2011. Tsunami-like flash floods raced towards Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of its outskirts, flood warnings for the financial district and predictions that the death toll is likely to climb. Picture taken January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Amanda Neville

15. People are seen on the roof of a house in the flooded town of Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in this still image taken from video January 10, 2011. Tsunami-like flash floods raced towards Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of its outskirts, flood warnings for the financial district and predictions that the death toll is likely to climb. REUTERS/Seven Network via Reuters TV

16. A man is lifted up to a helicopter in the flooded town of Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in this still image taken from video January 10, 2011. Tsunami-like flash floods raced towards Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of its outskirts, flood warnings for the financial district and predictions that the death toll is likely to climb. REUTERS/Seven Network via Reuters TV

17. People are seen on the roof of a house in the flooded town of Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in this still image taken from video January 10, 2011. Tsunami-like flash floods raced towards Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of its outskirts, flood warnings for the financial district and predictions that the death toll is likely to climb. REUTERS/Seven Network via Reuters TV

18. A flash flood sweeps across an intersection in Toowoomba, 105 km (65 miles) west of Brisbane, January 10, 2011. Tsunami-like flash floods raced towards Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of its outskirts, flood warnings for the financial district and predictions that the death toll is likely to climb. Picture taken January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Renee Roman

19. A passenger in a car waves for assistance as a flash flood sweeps across an intersection in Toowoomba, 105 km (65 miles) west of Brisbane, January 10, 2011. Picture taken January 10, 2011. Tsunami-like flash floods raced towards Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of its outskirts, flood warnings for the financial district and predictions that the death toll is likely to climb. REUTERS/Tomas Guerin

20.  Charlie's Creek reached it's peak for a second time on January 12, 2011 in Chinchilla, Australia.

21.  Charlie's Creek reached it's peak for a second time on January 12, 2011 in Chinchilla, Australia.

22.  Charlie's Creek reached it's peak for a second time on January 12, 2011 in Chinchilla, Australia.

23. In this photo released by the Northern Territory Police, four German tourists are safely rescued from the flooded Magela Creek, near Jabiru, Australia, Monday, Jan. 3. (AP Photo/Northern Territory Police)

24. In this photo released by the Northern Territory Police, four German tourists rest on the roof of their vehicle as they wait for their rescue from the flooded Magela Creek, near Jabiru, Australia, Monday, Jan. 3. (AP Photo/Northern Territory Police)

25. South-East Queensland

26. South-East Queensland

27. A wallaby stands on a large round hay bale, trapped by rising flood waters outside the town of Dalby in Queensland, Australia on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010. Days of torrential downpours have left parts of central and southern Queensland state inundated, flooding thousands of homes and businesses, cutting off roads and forcing the entire populations of two towns to evacuate. (AP Photo/Anthony Skerman)

28. The swollen Burnett River cuts the sugar cane town of Bundaberg in two and submerges Harriett Island on December 30, 2010 after entire towns in Queensland state were inundated by the worst deluges in decades. (TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

29. Rising floodwaters spread across the runway of the airport at Rockhampton, in eastern Queensland, Australia on January 2, 2011. (MECHIELSEN LYNDON/AFP/Getty Images)

30. A snake crosses the Capricorn Highway which is under floodwaters 6km south of Rockhampton, Australia on January 3, 2011. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

31. An emergency personnel boat motors past a street sign partially covered by floodwaters 6km south of Rockhampton on January 3, 2011. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

32. Houses in the town of Theodore, about 410km (255 miles) north west of Brisbane, Australia, are partially submerged by flood waters in this January 1, 2011 picture. (REUTERS/Queensland Police Service) #

33. Cattle walk through flooded crops near the town of Theodore in Australia's state of Queensland January 2, 2011. Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded on Sunday in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

34. A main street in the flooded town of Theodore, Australia is used as a helicopter landing zone as residents are evacuated in this January 1, 2011 picture. (REUTERS/Queensland Police Service)

35. Rising floodwaters spread through the low-lying suburb of Depot Hill in Rockhampton, in eastern Queensland on January 2, 2011. (MECHIELSEN LYNDON/AFP/Getty Images)

36. A police vehicle is halted by flood debris across a road near the town of Injune, about 480kms (298 miles) northwest of Brisbane on January 1, 2011. Floods that have inundated 22 Australian towns and forced more than 200,000 from their homes headed towards the northeast coast on New Year's Day, forcing further evacuations and warnings of 30-ft flood waters. (REUTERS/Queensland Police Service)

37. Partially submerged railways to transport coal are seen near the town of Emerald in Australia's state of Queensland January 2, 2011. Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded on Sunday in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

38. Workers of a hardware store start to clean up after being affected by flood waters in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia on January 1, 2011. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

39. A small plane takes off from a portion of the flooded runway at the Rockhampton airport in the state of Queensland January 2, 2011. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

40. A coal ship waits to be loaded at the port in Gladstone, Queensland January 2, 2011. Torrential rains and flooding are set to cut rail supplies of coal for another week from inland mines to Australia's third-largest coal export terminal Gladstone, forcing the port to run down already-depleted inventories. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

41. A fish is seen on the Capricorn Highway, which is partially submerged under floodwaters, 6 km (3.7 miles) south of Rockhampton, January 3, 2011. Military aircraft flew supplies to an Australian town slowly disappearing beneath floodwaters on Monday, as record flooding in the country's northeast continues to cut coal exports and devastate wheat production. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

42. This aerial photo taken on December 31, 2010 shows the Fairbairn Dam spilling into the Queensland town of Emerald, illustrating the extent of flooding across the area. (JONO SEARLE/AFP/Getty Images)

43. Agricultural machinery is seen on an isolated island surrounded by flood waters near the town of Emerald in Australia's state of Queensland January 2, 2011. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

44. Ann Mara uses a kayak and a rope to tow a kangaroo through floodwaters near Wellington, Australia. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes, and officials have been scrambling to pluck stranded motorists from cars and surround vulnerable homes and businesses with sandbags as Australia's attorney general declared 45 communities along the country's east coast disaster areas Friday, Dec. 10, 2010, following weeks of drenching rains. (AP Photo/Lake Burrendong Sport and Recreation Centre, Tracy Woods)

45. Rodney Dowton ferries a boatload of kangaroos through floodwaters near Wellington, Australia. (AP Photo/Lake Burrendong Sport and Recreation Centre, Tracy Woods)

46. A swollen river is seen near the town of Tumut, 400 km (250 miles) south-west of Sydney, December 9, 2010. Torrential rain is wreaking more havoc across eastern Australia, with flash floods continuing to cause problems for residents, according to local media. (REUTERS/Wolter Peters)

47. Buildings are submerged in floodwaters in a neighborhood in Rockhampton, Queensland on January 2, 2011. Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded on Sunday in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

48. Christopher Roth tries to salvage what he can from his parents' flooded home in Bundaberg on December 31, 2010. (TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

49. Scott Wogandt and his son Mitchell kayak past flooded cars in Bundaberg on December 31, 2010. (TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

50. A worker from emergency services walks through the Capricorn Highway, which is submerged in floodwaters, 6 km (3.7 miles) south of Rockhampton, January 3, 2011. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)