Huge flood turns Australia's third city into a 'war zone'

BRISBANE, Australia - Australia's third-largest city Brisbane was turned into a "war zone" on Thursday with whole suburbs under water and infrastructure smashed as the worst flood in decades hit 30,000 properties.

Shocked evacuees surveyed the damage after floods that have swept eastern Australia peaked about a meter below feared levels around dawn, sparing thousands more properties in the besieged river city.

Queensland's tearful state Premier Anna Bligh said relief was tinged with despair at the damage to homes and major landmarks, as well as the scale of the "post-war" rebuilding effort ahead in the city of 2 million people.