Queensland state premier Anna Bligh said the death toll was expected to rise after fast-running torrents of water devastated the rural town of Toowoomba and other areas, sweeping away cars and leaving survivors clinging to trees.
"These are shocking and heartbreaking circumstances involving young families and young children in a very rapidly unfolding situation," she said.
TV images showed streets turned into churning rapids dotted with floating cars, some with people sitting on top, while elsewhere residents were forced on top of buildings as water-levels reached their roofs.
A woman and a boy were found dead in Toowoomba city centre, which lies 125 kilometres west of the state capital, Brisbane, while a man and a boy were killed at nearby Murphys Creek, officials said,
Federal MP Ian MacFarlane said he had heard reports that "there could be up to 30 people unaccounted for" following the dramatic deluge, which hit late on Monday and subsided within three hours.
"We're just seeing building after building, the water rushing in and blowing the windows out," he told Sky News. "Cars that were parked in the carparks were just lifted up and went bobbing down the street."
"I've lived in Toowoomba for 20 years and I've never seen anything like that. This is flooding without precedent in Toowoomba," MacFarlane added.
The flash floods were caused by torrential rains falling on Australia's flood-stricken northeast, where overflowing rivers have afflicted a huge area the size of France and Germany combined at huge economic cost.
Helicopter rescue teams sent to search for the missing in the Lockyer Valley region were hampered by further heavy rains Tuesday.
source:The Times of India.
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