Australia

A severe storm warning for damaging winds and flash flooding was issued for parts of southeast QLD yesterday evening NZT, for the second day running.

Wide Bay was hit by storms just after midday, bringing as much as 10mm in ten minutes at Maryborough and over 58mm in their gauge between 9am and 3pm.

This Brisbane Flood Simulation shows Brisbane in 5.5m flood, what was originally forecast for Brisbane.

While the flood waters didn't quite reach this level it's still a remarkable animation that shows just how much of downtown Brisbane went under water when the river flooded last week.

This simulation is based on accurate spatial data produced by AAM.

Storms are redeveloping over flood-affected areas of Queensland and northern New South Wales, heavy enough to cause brief flash flooding but not nearly as intense as last week's.

Flash flooding is easily the most likely feature of the storms which will lead to brief rises in rivers and creeks. Large hail and damaging winds are also a possibility, but mainly on high ground.

The biggest storms are forming on and near the ranges but are travelling to the northeast towards the coast. These are slow-moving bringing as much as 30mm of rain in under an hour.

One Victorian town is assessing the damge while the other is preparing for the worst as river peaks cause extensive damage in the state

Rivers are expected to peak in the western Victorian town of Horsham.

The death toll in Queensland's flood crisis has risen to 17.

State Premier Anna Bligh says the body of a mature-aged woman had been recovered at a home in Grantham in the Lockyer Valley.

Ms Bligh said the woman's body was recovered in a home which had been searched twice before.

The discovery was made during a final search of the building.

The forecast for Queensland is terrible. More rain is expected - not just in the next few days but the coming months.

The tropical and sub-tropical areas of Australia are now entering their wet season. La Nina is only making conditions worse.

The floods may put an end to many businesses - particularly farmers who are facing this after several years of droughts.

Northern parts of Tasmania have seen huge rainfall amounts in the last 48 hours, some places breaking long term records.

In 24 hours to 9am on Thursday, Scamander in the island's northeast, recorded 278mm making it the wettest day in at least 26 years. Further rain fell to 9am on Friday taking the two day total to 349mm, which is around 7 times the average for the month.

Check out the BEFORE and AFTER images taken from where the live Brisbane River flood webcam is located (see below).

The live streaming webcam of the Brisbane River was showing trees, buildings and other debris floating down river at the height of the flood.

The camera is no longer operational.

BELOW:   Before and After:  Click the image below for a larger version

Over the past few days much of Victoria and Tasmania have been struck with heavy rain, severe storms and strong winds, but the worst is yet to come according to weatherzone.com.au.

Flooding has left a valley to the west of Brisbane looking like a war zone with Australian troops steeling themselves for expected 'terrible outcomes' as they move into the devastated area.

In one small town at least 30 cars have been washed up against a bridge, prompting fears they could contain the bodies of many victims.