Australia flood focus on Victoria

Aerial view of flooded Wimmera region, Australia (19 January 2011)The floodwaters are expected to drain off into the Murray River over the next 10 days

A giant inland sea of floodwater, 55 miles (90km) long, will spread across the Australian state of Victoria over the next 10 days, officials say.

Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said the floods would rank as one of the most costly natural disasters in the country’s history.

More than 30 people have been killed since flooding began last month.

In Queensland, nine people are still missing after floods tore through the cities of Toowomba and Grantham.

The Victoria State Emergency Service has issued evacuation warnings for communities east of the city of Kerang, which remains cut off.

In all, more than 70 communities have been affected. In the city of Swan Hill, people have been building makeshift levees to hold back the Murray River, which is expected to carry the bulk of the floodwaters as they run off over the next 10 days.

These are the worst floods in northern parts of Victoria since records began 130 years ago.

“There is no doubt the recent floods will rank as one of the most costly natural disasters in our history,” said Mr Swan, who is also Australia’s treasurer.

The impact of the floods was worse than a series of natural disasters in the 1970s and wildfires in 2009 in which 173 people died, he said in his first economic note of the year.

Further north, in Queensland, residents of the state capital, Brisbane, have again been putting out sandbags as high tides threaten to inflict more misery on low-lying suburbs.

The city is still clearing up after floodwaters two weeks ago reached a peak of 4.46m (14.6ft).

The search for the bodies of flood victims is continuing.

The Australian navy has been trying to clear the Brisbane River of tonnes of debris including cars, parts of buildings and boats, says the BBC’s Nick Bryant in Sydney.

The floods are expected to pose a threat for another week, our correspondent says.

Economists estimate that the flooding in Queensland and Victoria will cost at least 3bn Australian dollars (£1.8bn) in lost coal exports and agricultural production.

Reconstruction could cost an additional 20bn Australian dollars, the ANZ Bank says.

The Queensland Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal has so far raised 135m Australian dollars.

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More Anglicans in Catholic move

(From left) John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith NewtonThree former Anglican bishops were ordained as Catholic priests on 15 January
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Seven Anglican priests and 300 members of six congregations are to join a new section of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Diocese of Brentwood says.

The move involves three parishes in Essex, and three in east London.

It is the largest influx to date into the Ordinariate, which Pope Benedict established for Church of England members unhappy over issues such as the ordination of women.

Three former Anglican bishops have been appointed to lead the section.

The Ordinariate allows Anglicans opposed to issues including women bishops, gay clergy and same-sex blessings to convert to Rome while maintaining many of their traditions.

The Bishop of Brentwood, the Right Reverend Thomas MacMahon, said the Anglicans were also unhappy about the church’s general move away from the traditions it once shared with Catholics, but described the decision as “a very big move”.

“They relinquish their present post, a very big thing, leaving some of their people which brings heartache, into a fairly unknown future, as this ordinariate has only just been brought up.

“It calls for huge faith and huge trust because the future isn’t that certain,” he said.

Three vicars in Chelmsford, Hockley, Benfleet are among those men being trained to become Catholic deacons. A seventh retired Anglican vicar is also converting.

The Vatican will allow them to maintain a distinct religious identity and spiritual heritage within the Ordinariate.

Former Anglican bishops Andrew Burnham, Keith Newton and John Broadhurst were ordained into the section at Westminster Cathedral on 15 January.

At the time Father Newton estimated that about 50 Anglican clergy might join the Roman Catholic church – along with members of their congregations.

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Shots are fired at house in town

Police officerThe shooting happened at a house in Bangor, County Down

A ten-year-old boy and a woman have escaped injury after shots were fired through the window of a house in Bangor, County Down.

The incident happened shortly after 1900 GMT at Ballymaconnell Road on Saturday night.

The pair were in the house at the time of the shooting.

The woman was taken to hospital and treated for shock.

North Down councillor, Alan Chambers, said the shooting had taken place in what he described as a “quiet residential area”.

“I live close by and it is not something that in all the years I have lived in Bangor, I have experienced in this area,” he added.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.