Huge damage bill for flood-ravaged Qld | QLD News | Breaking News in Queensland

The Balonne River in St George.

RAELENE MCVINISHTHE BALONNE BEACON

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RECENT tsunami warnings keep water and flood damage top of mind on Queensland’s coast, while unpredictable storms and floods again threaten the interior.

ONCE-in-a-century flooding has caused hundreds of millions of dollars damage in south-west Queensland, with authorities focusing on a number of hard-hit communities after the town of St George escaped the worst.

St George, the township at the centre of one of the state's major cotton-growing regions, was spared a potentially ruinous river level peak of 14 metres on Saturday.

But the record-breaking flooding is causing problems for the townships of Thallon, Bollon and Dirranbandi, south of St George.

The water has breached the levee at the Moonie River at Thallon, and road access to all three regional communities has been cut off.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the damage bill from the flooding was expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Without a doubt, this will be a damage bill in the hundreds of millions of dollars," she told reporters as she toured St George on Sunday.

"There's been major cuts to highways, we have seen railway lines washed away.

"This is a massive water event which has smashed all the records known here in the southwest.

"All this water ultimately is going to mean great things for local primary producers but there is a lot of pain to be felt in these communities before we can see total recovery."

Ms Bligh, who was also set to tour the Dirranbandi area on Sunday, said all shires across the southwest region would be eligible for disaster relief assistance.

She said the costs of the damage would be shared by all levels of government but urged people to dig deep and donate to the state government's flood appeal.

The community of St George had been preparing for the Balonne River to reach 14 metres on Saturday evening, which would have inundated 80 per cent of the town.

But the level was subsequently downgraded to 13.5m - still the highest level since recordings began in 1890.

Balonne Shire mayor Donna Stewart said St George had escaped the worst and the town should be back on its feet in a week.

Ms Stewart said the main priority now was Thallon, Bollon and Dirranbandi.

Ms Bligh said additional SES resources would be brought in to help St George on Sunday afternoon and over the next couple of days, and authorities were also focusing on assistance for residents of Thallon.

"Overnight Thallon had a very serious influx of water which has breached their levee and we'll be looking to ensure that they can be assisted in their recovery as well," Ms Bligh said.

Twenty-five homes in St George were inundated with water and about 40 of the town's 2800 residents displaced by the flooding moved to a make-shift evacuation centre at the showgrounds.

"This community has had a magnificent response, their evacuation centre has worked well and all their planning really paid off," Ms Bligh said.

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce, who lives in St George, commended the work of the community and all levels of government.

"We've been working flat out sandbagging and helping people in the emergency centre," he said.

But efforts would now be centred on Thallon and Dirranbandi because the river levee had been breached.

"The problem we've got is trying to get access to there," he said.

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View Queensland weather warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology.

To keep up to date with the latest road closures across Queensland, visit www.131940.qld.gov.au.