Australian floods highlight record rainfall

Severe flooding in eastern Australia that forced thousands of people to flee their homes ended one of the wettest years ever recorded.

The second half of 2010 was the rainiest since record-keeping began in 1900, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology reported in its annual climate statement Friday.

Overall, the year was the wettest since 2000 and the third-wettest on record.

Queensland, the northeastern state inundated by Australia's worst flood in decades, has just come out of its rainiest December on record.

Tropical rains began just before Christmas and poured down for days, flooding an area the size of France and Germany combined. The waters destroyed 1,200 homes in 40 communities and damaged 11,000 others, affecting around 200,000 people. Police say 10 people have died in swollen rivers or floodwaters since late November.

The flooding has shut 40 coal mines in Queensland, and damaged crops such as wheat, mangoes and sugar cane. State Premier Anna Blight estimated that the price of rebuilding homes, businesses and infrastructure, coupled with economic losses, could be as high as $5 billion.

Many Queensland residents returned to their sludge-covered homes Friday as others still waited more than a week after murky brown waters spilled over their riverbanks, forcing about 4,000 from their homes.

Meanwhile, flood waters continued to rise in the town of St. George. However, officials said their peak height will be lower than previously predicted, so 30 fewer homes in the community of 2,500 were at risk.

Heavy rain fell Friday in several areas of the state, and the Bureau of Meteorology said the conditions could continue through the weekend. Officials said the rain was not enough to make the floods worse, but was hampering recovery efforts and could mean it would take longer for the crisis to ease.