A MASSIVE cyclone crashed into northeastern Australia yesterday, ripping roofs from buildings and cutting power to thousands of homes, but leaving the scale of disaster unknown as officials and residents holed up while the tempest raged.

Police ordered remaining residents to get off the streets today as one of Australia’s biggest-ever storms bore down on the north-east.

Tens of thousands of Australians stockpiled food and waited in sturdy shelters today as a monster cyclone approached the north east coast with furious winds, rain and surging seas on a scale unseen in generations.

AUSTRALIA evacuated thousands of people from its northeast coast yesterday as a cyclone rivalling Hurricane Katrina bore down on tourism towns and rural communities, with officials saying it could even threaten areas deep inland that were ruined by floods last month.

Authorities scrambled to airlift hospital patients from the path of a cyclone roaring towards waterlogged north-eastern Australia today and urged residents to flee potentially deadly flash floods.

AUSTRALIA’S Queensland state is facing one of the worst cyclones in its history, officials warned yesterday, bringing wild winds and potentially devastating rainfall to areas still awash with floods.

A strong tropical cyclone was roaring towards flood-ravaged areas of Australia today, sparking evacuations and warnings from officials that the storm could be the worst the region has ever seen.

A surging river flooded and isolated the latest community hit in Australia’s deadly flood disaster today, straining a levee serving as the main protection between the muddy waters and residents’ homes.

Dozens of rural Australian communities were sandbagging their properties today as they nervously watched four river systems rising from heavy rains upstream.

Parts of Australia’s third-largest city reopened today as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods receded, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge.

A HERO helicopter pilot has spoken of his horror after he rescued a pregnant woman only to discover she lost grip of her baby only moments earlier.

Floodwaters washing through Australia’s third-largest city crested today just shy of levels residents had feared most but high enough to submerge entire neighbourhoods and cause damage one official likened to the aftermath of war.

DEADLY floods in Australia’s third-biggest city were peaking below the levels Brisbane had feared, but the state premier said they would require a reconstruction effort of “post-war proportions”.

Floods poured into Brisbane’s empty centre today after leaving a deadly trail across the region in what could be its most devastating floods in a century.

Deadly floodwaters that have cut a swathe across northeast Australia flowed onto the streets of the nation’s third-largest city today, forcing people to flee both suburbs and skyscrapers.

THOUSANDS of people fled central Brisbane yesterday as the panicked city braced for its worst flooding in 120 years, after terrifying flash floods left 10 dead and 78 missing.

Rescuers raced today to reach people trapped on roofs after a flash flood hurled a tsunami-like wall of water through Australia’s waterlogged east, tossing cars like toys, killing at least eight people and leaving 72 missing.

AUSTRALIA put an army general in charge of flood recovery yesterday after weeks of heavy rains deluged the country’s coal-producing north-east, crippling the area’s economy and sending out reverberations felt in energy markets around the world.

Floodwaters in an inundated city on Australia’s north-eastern coast held steady below their predicted peak today as exhausted residents were warned they would face a long wait before the mud-soaked landscape dries out.

Severe flooding in Australia could have a “significant long-term effect” on the global steel industry, a senior politician said.

People in an Australian city cut off by some of the country’s worst flooding in decades are being warned to stay out of the water amid fears of snakes and even crocodiles at large.

MILITARY flights rushed yesterday to restock an Australian city before it was cut off by floodwaters that have turned a huge swath of the outback into a lake, while police confirmed two more deaths in the crisis.

Military flights have rushed to restock an Australian city before it was cut off by flood water as police confirmed two more deaths in the crisis.

A WOMAN drowned after trying to cross a flooded causeway in Australia, becoming the first victim of relentless flooding that one official has described as reaching “biblical proportions,” police said yesterday.

Residents of an Australian coastal city were evacuated today as surging floodwaters edged closer to their community, with one official describing the devastation as reaching “biblical proportions”.

MILITARY aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by floods in northeastern Australia, as the prime minister promised new assistance yesterday to the 200,000 people affected by waters covering an area larger than France and Germany combined.

Military aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by floods in north-east Australia today as the prime minister promised new assistance to the 200,000 people affected by waters covering an area larger than France and Germany combined.

Flooded communities across eastern Australia could be under water for more than a week, with the clean-up bill expected to hit billions of dollars, officials said today.

The entire population of 300 people was flown out of a town in eastern Australia by military helicopter today as river levels continued to rise after days of pouring rain.

An Australian state is to return tens of thousands of acres of land to the original Aboriginal occupants, more than 30 years after it was turned into a national park, the state premier said today.

The cargo ship that ran aground and leaked tons of oil on the Great Barrier Reef was refloated today after being stuck for more than a week.

The crew of a coal-carrying ship that ran aground on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and is leaking oil will be questioned today about why their vessel was in a restricted area, an official said.

A STRANDED Chinese bulk coal carrier leaking oil into the sea around Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is in danger of breaking up and damaging the reef, government officials said yesterday.

The premier of Australia’s Queensland state today declared parts of its coast a disaster zone as a tropical cyclone approaches.

AUSTRALIA’S Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living organism, is under grave threat from climate warming and coastal development, and its prospects of survival are “poor,” a major new report has found.

AUSTRALIAN scientists hailed the country’s most significant dinosaur discovery in decades yesterday after three new species were unearthed in Queensland.

Tough legislation which could land bikers in jail for associating with one another sailed through an Australian state parliament today, following a series of bloody clashes between warring gangs.

A second series of storms in a week brought death and destruction to Australia’s Queensland today.

Violent storms have torn across Australia’s east coast, sweeping one man to his death, blowing roofs off houses and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of buildings.

Outraged child welfare campaigners in Australia have protested after nine people who raped a 10-year-old girl escaped jail because a judge said their victim “consented” to sex.

REVELATIONS that nine people who pleaded guilty to raping a 10-year-old girl had escaped prison sentences were met with outrage in Australia yesterday, prompting officials to launch a review of sexual assault cases in remote Aboriginal communities.

Nine people who pleaded guilty to raping a 10-year-old girl have avoided prison sentences – causing outrage in Australia today.