Photos: Unprecedented, "Biblical" Floods Inundate Australia

Major Understatement

Photograph by Daniel Munoz, Reuters

A sign on a roadside in Rockhampton, Queensland, states the obvious: This region is prone to floods.

Tropical downpours are normal in this part of Australia at this time of year, midsummer in the Southern Hemisphere. But this year's rains have been especially torrential.

This extreme flood—which a government official called "biblical"—is beyond any seen in decades, and has covered an area the size of France and Germany combined.

Published January 6, 2011

Class I

Photograph by Torsten Blackwood, AFP/Getty Images

A man and a boy inspect a submerged car as they float by in a kayak. Nearly 200,000 people have been stranded or otherwise affected by the floods in Australia.

On January 5, rainfall continued along most of the coast of the eastern state of Queensland, although it was mostly light to moderate rain.

(See the Australia government's rainfall map.)

Published January 6, 2011

Muddied Waters

Photograph by Jono Searle, Reuters/Pool

Murky brown water covers much of the town of Emerald, about 175 miles (300 kilometers) from Australia's eastern coast.

Some of these cities have suffered catastrophic floods in the past decade—and some just last year—but this year's flood is worse, according to officials.

This region of Australia was just emerging from a decade-long drought and the worst bushfires in its history. So the rains do bring some relief, refilling reservoirs depleted by drought.

(Read more about "Australia's Dry Run" in National Geographic magazine.)

Published January 6, 2011

What's in the Water?

Photograph courtesy Northern Territory Police

German tourists got stranded in crocodile-infested waters when trying to cross the Magela Creek in Jabiru, a small village in the heart of Australia's vast Kakadu National Park. Minor flooding has also hit this region, in Australia's Northern Territory.

The four tourists took refuge on the roof of their SUV until rescued by a police truck outfitted with an exhaust snorkel.

Published January 6, 2011

Risky Takeoff

Photograph by Daniel Munoz, Reuters

Despite flooding on the runway, a small plane takes off from the Rockhampton airport, near Australia's eastern coast.

As of January 5, rainfall continued along Australia's eastern seaboard, including the famous Sunshine Coast. But the floodwaters were starting to recede in many areas, including Rockhampton, and locals were beginning to clean up and assess the damages.

Published January 6, 2011

Extreme Irrigation

Photograph by Janie Barrett, AP/Pool

Precisely laid rows of crops have been covered by murky brown floodwaters in eastern Australia.

The floods have destroyed some of the country's cotton—a major cash crop—and several wheat fields, while slowing shipments of other goods.

In all, the floods may cause more than $1 billion in crop losses, according to an estimate cited by National Underwriter Online News.

(Related: "Pakistan Flooding Because of Farms.")

Published January 6, 2011

Stranded

Photograph by Anthony Skerman, AP

One of Australia's iconic marsupials, a wallaby, sits stranded on top of a large, round hay bale. Animals have been seeking any patch of dry ground they can find.

Now, "with the water going down, we can at least control the snakes coming up the front steps," Max Wood of Rockhampton, Australia, told the Sydney Morning News.

"But the floods aren't too bad,'' Wood added. ''It's twice as bad when they're over—the dirt and smell and dead fish."

Published January 6, 2011

Exodus

Photograph by Torsten Blackwood, AFP/Getty Images

A flood victim carries a few belongings as he wades across a road that's covered with nearly 3 feet (1 meter) of water.

Twenty-two towns and cities have been nearly cut off from the outside because of the floods, leaving many stuck in their homes.

(More about last year's major floods: "PHOTOS: 2010 a Watershed Year for Floods, Droughts?")

Published January 6, 2011