An unidentified man in New Farm uses a shovel to clear mud from the streets in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
An unidentified man in New Farm uses a shovel to clear mud from the streets in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Unidentified residents in New Farm clear away debris from their flooded homes in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Brothers Benjamin and Damian Avenia clear away mud and debris at their house in New Farm in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
New Farm residents Simon Stapleton and brothers Benjamin and Damian Avenia clear away the mud and debris in front of a home in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Damaged goods awaits removal in front of a flooded home in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
New Farm resident Cate Kelly with her dog Lily at their flooded home in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Residents in New Farm clear away mud and debris in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Residents in New Farm clear away mud and debris in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
An unidentified man sits on his front wall as he clears away mud in New Farm in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Unidentified residents clear away the mud from their flooded home in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Local residents amongst the debris and damaged goods from flooded homes in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
New Farm resident Mark Francis makes his way through the slippery sludge in the streets in Brisbane, Australia.Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Newstead resident Tom Brooks clears away mud and debris in his house in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Kevin Lewis helps clear debris from the home of a friend in the flooded suburbs in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Photo: AP
Published Jan 14, 2011
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Australia's third-largest city started cleaning up stinking mud and debris on Friday after some of the country's worst floods on record, but in a sign of the task ahead, it could take six months to pump flood waters out of Queensland's coal mines. Many suburbs in the state's capital Brisbane, a city of two million people, remained submerged after floodwaters inundated the riverside city on Thursday. The Queensland floods, which started in December, have killed 20 people, left 53 missing and affected an area the size of South Africa. A total of 86 towns have been impacted.
Sodden mattresses, mud-stained clothes and water-logged electrical equipment were piled up in front of houses in the badly hit Toowong area of Brisbane.
