Flash floods hit Australia's eastern coast

June 30, 2005

6,000 residents of in  have been told to evacuate their homes.

A couple is missing on the in Queensland. State Emergency Services (SES) workers are currently preparing to evacuate a number of nursing homes in the suburbs of and.

The (BOM) have said that South East Queensland has recorded rainfalls of 368mm in the last 24 hours and that the Gold Coast suburb of  has been averaging 80mm per hour for at least two hours. The Coolangatta airport was closed due to flooding.

Further south the city of Lismore has been inundated. A recently constructed levy has held back the waters of the, protecting the town's central business district.