Bligh, Gillard visit devastated Grantham

The Lockyer Valley was torn up by a wall of water so fast and ferocious that some of
those who died in Monday's flooding disaster may never be found.
In the normally lush valley, west of Brisbane, the small town of Grantham was
smashed by the rushing floodwater at its most forceful.
The havoc in Grantham is devastating to see, a shocked Queensland Premier Anna Bligh
said after visiting the town with Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday.
"What I saw can only compare to a war zone or perhaps a cyclonic hurricane," the
premier told reporters on her return to Brisbane.
"The way that the town has been literally picked up and turned around and deposited
in fields and roads.
"It's going to be very difficult for people to come home from the evacuation centres
and see some of their precious possessions and the things that matter to them strewn
across highways and across fields.
"There's going to be a lot of heartache in the Lockyer Valley for a long time."
She said people in the valley had been eager to share their stories with her.
"I think because they wanted to know that people believe them, because what they
saw, for them, was so unbelievable.
"There is no other part of Queensland that has experienced what that community has
experienced ... a deeply shocking, traumatic event."
Authorities have asked for patience, warning the search and rescue effort will be
conducted in an area more than 200km long.
Most of the 16 deaths in the floods disaster occurred in Toowoomba and the Lockyer
Valley.
Describing the massive task ahead, Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said
victims may have been carried far from where they were last seen.
"One of the people who are confirmed deceased was found 80 kilometres downstream
from where they were reported missing," he told reporters.
"I think this just demonstrates and highlights the complexity of these search and
rescue operations and also the time that's going to be consumed searching all of the
creeks and streams associated with this river system."
He said he understood families and communities were anxious for news of the missing.
"A lot of resources are being put into the search and we're doing the best we can to
complete the search as quickly as possible," he said.
Grief services and financial help are available for flood-affected communities.
Ms Bligh said authorities still had no answers on what caused the wall of water that
first hit at Toowoomba.
"I am as keen to find answers to some of the questions, particularly about the
Toowoomba event, and to get a better understanding of this entire flood experience,"
she said.