Here is a slideshow of photographs taken by Timothy Phan for Youth Journalism International of flooding in the Brisbane, Australia suburbs of Oxley and Westlake:
By Nancy Hsu
Reporter
BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia – As the flood waters begin to recede, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said Queensland now faces a reconstruction task of a post-war magnitude.
“That is how we are seeing it and that is the sort of steely determination that it will require to overcome what we have seen in the last three weeks,” said Bligh during a Thursday morning press conference.
As a state and nation weeps for the lost and begins confronting the challenge that lies ahead, Bligh reminded citizens of their strength.
“I want us to remember who we are,” Bligh said. “We are Queenslanders. We’re the people that they breed tough north of the border. We’re the ones that they knock down and we get up again. I said earlier this week that this weather may break our hearts and it is doing that, but it will not break our will and in the coming weeks and coming months we are going to prove that beyond any doubt.”
In a later press conference, Bligh warned residents to keep safety in mind as she told of the city’s first flood-related death.
“It is still a very dangerous situation in and around the streets and suburbs of Brisbane,” Bligh said.
Bligh confirmed the death of a 24-year-old man at Durack that morning.
“Early reports indicated that a man walked around a road closed site into a property that is believed to be his father’s property to check that property,” the premier said. “Unfortunately as he walked he was sucked into a storm water drain. His body has now been recovered and it is reported that this man has died.”
State disaster coordinator Ian Stewart said that the young man’s death “is exactly what we were afraid would happen. It is avoidable and will be avoidable if people just wait a little while until those areas are made safe.”