PM announces flood-hit families eligible for payments of up to �650 per person, as waters cover area of France and Germany
Military aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by floods in north-eastern Australia as the prime minister, Julia Gillard, promised new assistance to the 200,000 people affected by waters covering an area larger than France and Germany combined.
Residents were stocking up on food or evacuating their homes as rising rivers inundated or isolated 22 towns in the state of Queensland.
Gillard toured an evacuation centre in Bundaberg and announced that families whose homes had been flooded or damaged would be eligible for disaster relief payments of A$1,000 (�650) per adult and A$400 per child.
A day earlier, she had pledged A$1m in federal aid to match a relief fund already set up by the state government.
Sandy Kiddle, a Bundaberg resident, told Gillard she had lost cherished items after floodwaters surged through her house. She said she may not be able to return home for a week.
"It was just a sea of water, and I thought the beach would never come to our house," Kiddle told Gillard, who gave her a hug.
Officials said half of Queensland's 715,305 square miles was affected by the flooding, which began last week after days of rain caused rivers to overflow.
The rain has stopped but the rivers are still surging to new heights and overflowing into low-lying towns as the water makes its way to sea. There is a shortage of drinking water and fears of mosquito-borne disease.
"This is without a doubt a tragedy on an unprecedented scale," the Queensland premier, Anna Bligh, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Cleanup efforts were expected to cost billions, she said.
The department of community safety said supplies of food and bedding were delivered by road and by military aircraft to the towns of Rockhampton, Emerald, Springsure and Blackwater in central-east Queensland.
North-eastern Australia often sees heavy rains and flooding during the southern hemisphere summer, but the scope of the damage from the recent downpours is unusual.
The entire populations of two towns have been forced to evacuate. The next city in the water's path, Rockhampton, near the coast, is bracing for flood levels forecast at 9.4 metres (31ft ) by Monday or Tuesday. Roads and railway lines were expected to be cut off by Saturday, and the city's airport planned to shut down over the weekend.
"This is a very serious situation," said the Rockhampton mayor, Brad Carter. "Police are ordering people in affected areas to leave their homes."
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