5,000 Australians flee flooding

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Thousands of Australians were evacuated from their homes on Sunday as floodwaters headed down the country's wine-rich Hunter Valley, leaving towns cut off and farms isolated like islands.

A major storm battering Australia's east coast for the past three days has whipped up huge seas, which beached a coal ship, and dumped flooding rains over the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney.

Eight people have drowned in the floods, the worst in 30 years in the area, which have been declared a natural disaster by the New South Wales state government. Another person was killed when a tree fell on him, bringing the storm's death toll to nine.

"I speak for every Australian in saying ... we are heart broken by the loss of lives," said Prime Minister John Howard.

Around 5,000 residents from the town of Maitland in the Hunter Valley were evacuated on Sunday fearing the swollen Hunter River would break levees overnight, said emergency officials.

"This afternoon, we got advised that the levee is likely to overtop. Because of that we have ordered the evacuation of the some 5,000 people," Philip Campbell, a spokesman for the State Emergency Service told Reuters.

"It is the most significant flooding in the Hunter Valley since 1971. It is a very serious flood threat and we are taking the threat very seriously."

Army soldiers were constructing sand bag levees to try and hold back the flooded Hunter River, which had swollen into a wide, brown swirling torrent of water heading down the valley.

"I just don't know what is going to happen now. It's a real battle," said dairy farmer John Cousins as he surveyed his flooded farm, which had been battling drought before the storm and floods hit.

Another farmer whose entire property looked like a lake told local television: "We will survive, its what we do on the land".

Some farmers were forced to swim their horses and cattle out of floodwaters. One farmer, chest deep in water, held a chicken above his head as he waded towards higher ground.

Damage assessments of properties in the Hunter Valley were still being compiled and it was unclear how the areas famed wineries have faired in the flooding.

New South Wales state premier Morris Lemma said the damage in Newcastle, one of Australia's major coal export ports, was worse than after a 1989 earthquake hit the city.

"What I saw were parts of Newcastle that resembled the kind of damage that followed the earthquake," he told reporters after visiting Newcastle.

Limited relief

Up to 300 mm of rain has fallen since Thursday on parts of the Hunter region, while parts of the Central Coast and Sydney received 200 mm.

Still, the rains have eluded much of the drought-stricken Sydney catchment area, with just 40 mm of rains in the main Warragamba Dam area and other dams.

More than 105,000 homes remain without power in Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Coast and Hunter Valley.

"Never before has our electricity network sustained such severe damage across such a widespread area," EnergyAustralia executive general manager network Geoff Lilliss said. "The extreme weather over the last few days has taken a heavy toll."

Wild seas on Sunday continued to hinder the salvage of the bulk carrier "Pasha Bulker", beached on Newcastle's Nobbys Beach on Friday. Authorities fear a marine disaster if the giant ship breaks up and spills its 700 tonnes of fuel and oil.

Newcastle Port Corporation chief Gary Webb said a 10-man salvage team was working on refloating the ship.

All coal loading operations in Newcastle have been suspended until the seas calm down, leaving some 50-plus ships anchored offshore.