Australia Flooding Hitting Queensland Capital, Brisbane

Catastrophic flooding in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland nowthreatens the state capital with record inundation.On Tuesday it was reported that the Brisbane and Bremer rivers were bothforecast by authorities to reach record crests within the next two days or so.

The area had been hit by a historic flood in 1974.

The Brisbane River is forecast to crest near or above the 1974 mark of 5.45meters later the week.

At Ipswich, the forecast crest of 22 meters on Wednesday would be above the1974 high mark by 1.5 meters.

Authorities also have reportedly said that 6,500 properties could be flooded bythe two badly swollen rivers. Another 30,000 or more properties could suffersome flood impact.

The local power supplier, Energex, warned that flooding would cut offelectrical power, potentially to hundreds of thousands of customers.

It is only the latest, and maybe the most intense, bout of extreme rainfall andflooding to hit the state since the beginning of December.

The badly affected area stretched from Gold Coast and Brisbane north toMaryborough, Queensland's most populous region, and west, over the GreatDividing Range to Toowoomba, Dalby and Condamine.

AP photo shows aftermath of flashflooding on street in Toowoomba, Queensland, on Jan. 11, 2011.A flash flood described in the media as an "inland tsunami" swept throughToowoomba at the start of the week.

Estimates for up to 6 inches, or 15 cm, of rainfall within half an hour havebeen reported.

Reports say that at least 10 people died in floodwaters, most of them in andabout Toowoomba, along with the nearby Lockyer Valley to the east.

As of Tuesday, the number of people reported as still missing was raised to 78.