Major floods swamp Australia’s east coast, claiming 8 lives

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Parts of Australia’s third-most populous city Brisbane are under water after heavy rain brought record flooding to some east coast areas and killed eight people. The flooding in Brisbane and its surrounds is the worst since 2011 when the city of 2.6 million people was inundated by what was described as a once-in-a-century event. Residents were advised to shelter where they were unless it is unsafe to do so. Multiple emergency flood alerts were in place for Brisbane suburbs, where 4,500 properties were submerged on Monday. Another 10,800 properties were partially flooded. Waters peaked at just over 12 feet.