"Australian troops and emergency workers were Monday battling huge flooding in the country's northeast that has left at least two people dead, with the worst devastation yet to come for some areas.

Up to 200,000 people are estimated to have been hit by the fast-flowing waters that have left 22 rural towns under water or substantially inundated by flooding stretching to an area the size of France and Germany combined."

AFP had the story January 3, 2011. [2]