Brisbane – At least a dozen Jewish families in northeastern Australia have been evacuated from their homes as a major flood ripped through Queensland this week, killing at least 12 people.
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More than 40 people are still missing, and one Jewish man remains unaccounted for near the rural town of Toowoomba, which was flattened Monday by what police described as an “inland instant tsunami.”
The bulk of Queensland’s 6,000 Jews live in the state’s capital, Brisbane, which was bracing for its river to peak early Thursday morning as analysts revised up their predictions of the damage bill to $13 million, or 1 percent of the gross domestic product.
Jason Steinberg, the president of the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies, said that “A number of Jewish families have been impacted, a lot are reporting difficulties. We are still trying to get details. There have been Jewish people evacuated from several towns. We are trying to assess their needs.
“Homes are being evacuated as a precautionary measure. It’s an amazing sight,” said Steinberg, of Brisbane, Australia’s third-largest city. “Where you once had a clear road, it’s a lake. The major arterial roads around Brisbane are now cut off.”
