Cyclone Debbie: Australia surveys devastation

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-39470971

Cyclone Debbie: Australia surveys devastation

1 hour ago

From the section Australia

Australia is surveying the devastation wrought by Cyclone Debbie, which has flooded vast tracts "almost the size of Texas" and left at least three dead. Debbie has now blown out over the Tasman Sea after bringing a deluge of rain down the eastern coast from its impact point in Queensland. Flood alerts remain, crops have been submerged and the bill may run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

A third body was found in Queensland on Saturday afternoon. Seventy-seven-year-old Nelson Raebel died in the floodwaters in Logan, south of Brisbane. Several people remain missing.

The main disaster zone stretches more than 1,000km (620 miles) from the point where Debbie made landfall, between Bowen and Airlie in Queensland, to the farming lands of northern New South Wales.

Evacuation orders and flood alerts remain in some areas, as water moves into the Fitzroy River catchment. Michelle Verry, of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in Queensland, told Agence France-Presse: "It's almost the size of Texas, it's a huge catchment, and that's why it can take some time for water to make it's way downstream."
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Two of the fatalities were in New South Wales. The body of a woman who disappeared from an area just south of the Queensland border on Thursday was found by a family member. The second victim died after the car she was in was swept away.
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The Insurance Council of Australia has estimated the damage bill could reach AS$1bn ($770m).
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