Australian floodwaters claim first drowning victim

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.

Days of pounding rain last week left much of northeastern Australia swamped by a sea of muddy water, with flooding affecting about 200,000 people in an area larger than France and Germany combined.

The rain has stopped, but rivers are still rising and overflowing into low-lying communities as the water moves toward the ocean.