Casualties are 10 now, but that's still low for a flood of this size. The trouble with arid dustbowls is that when the ground gets rock hard from drought, the rains won't soak in. The biggest issue for us will be the impact on food prices, as the flooded areas include a major beef cattle region, and fruit and vegetable farming areas. The Queensland areas affected also include most of Australia's export coal mines - coal is this country's single biggest export commodity. There are 45 ships waiting off the central Queensland coast waiting to be loaded with export coal.
