People stand at the edge of flood waters covering a street in the inner Brisbane suburb of West End January 12, 2011. 
 
 BRISBANE, Australia | 
 
 BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters) - Deadly floods in Australia's third-biggest city were peaking on Thursday below the levels Brisbane had feared, but the state premier said they would require a reconstruction effort of "post-war proportions." 
 
 The floods have so far killed at least 17 people, left 43 missing and caused billions of dollars of damage in Queensland state. One central bank economist has warned that it could cut the GDP measure of national income by as much as 1 percent. 
 
 "The Brisbane river has now reached its peak," police said in a statement, as an official weather bureau flood gauge in the center of the city of two million showed a depth of 4.45 meters. 
 
 That was below earlier expected highs of above 5 meters and less than a peak in 1974 of 5.45 meters which caused massive damage and loss of life. 
 
 The swollen river was moving rapidly and filled with debris, after bursting its banks and engulfing large districts of the city a day earlier. Power has been cut in 116,000 homes due to concerns the waters could cause electrocutions. 
 
 "This is going to be a long recovery. This morning as I look across not only the capital city, but three-quarters of my state, we are facing a reconstruction effort of post-war proportions," state Premier Anna Bligh told Australian radio. 
 
 Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said while many areas of the financial district were still inundated, the lower than expected peak would save around 8,000 properties. 
 
 "We all now have to rally together to help these people clean up, the ones that have suffered impacts," Newman told Australian television. 
 
 The revised flood figure, he said, indicated 11,900 properties would be fully flooded and another 14,700 partially affected. These included 2,500 businesses that would be completely inundated. 
 
 And while drinking water supplies in the city were safe and secure, Newman there had been damage to sewage pumping plants on the city's outskirts, which posed a threat of infection. 
 
 Power officials said they were planning to bring in large generators to restore power in the city center as soon as the water cleared. 
 
 "In the CBD (central business district), we've got about 10 blocks without power. That will be probably about another 3-4 days," said Mike Swanston of power provider Energex. 
 
 But devastated areas further west, hit by flash flooding on Monday described as an "inland tsunami," could be without power for weeks, he added. 
 
 The city woke up to bright sunshine on Thursday and several hundred people had gathered on a vantage point above the river to take photographs of the floods at first light. Many factories and homes had only their rooflines visible. 
 
 Authorities were also struggling to secure or break up three large objects or vessels on the Brisbane River. ||||| Major portions of Brisbane resembled a watery ghost town Thursday as muddy waters from the overflowing Brisbane River inundated Australia's third-largest city, part of massive flooding throughout Queensland state that has left officials and residents reeling.In Brisbane, a city of 2 million, 11,900 homes and 2,500 businesses were completely flooded, an additional 14,700 houses and 2,500 businesses were at least partly covered by water, and 120,000 houses were without power, Mayor Campbell Newman said. One man was killed after being swept into a storm drain.Across Queensland, more than 20 people have died, dozens of towns have been submerged — some three times since late November — and more than 74 people are missing across an area the size of Germany and France that is still under water. The death toll is expected to rise as water recedes and officials make grim discoveries.More than 2.5 million residents have been affected by the flooding that, according to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, has caused at least $5 billion worth of damage, forced the evacuation of tens of thousands and may leave many homeless for months."Some people will return to their homes to discover they will never be habitable again," Bligh said.The Brisbane River peaked at about 14.5 feet Thursday — about three feet below the worst fears of officials, although Bligh said the rebuilding process was likely to be of "postwar" proportions.Entire neighborhoods have been devastated, and water remains above the roofs of many buildings. Citizens braved the elements in kayaks, rowboats, even surfboards.Lucinda Kent, 19, said Thursday that while "everything is looking better this morning," her home was still without power, and they were concerned about the water supply.The flooding was "pretty nerve-racking," she said. An aunt trapped in an apartment building in the city had called her parents to ask for help, but it was too late to do anything "because all the bridges are out.""It was definitely scary," Kent said.Analysts said Queensland's coal industry has been virtually shut down, costing millions of dollars in deferred exports and sending global prices higher. Vegetable, fruit and sugarcane crops in the rich agricultural region have been wiped out, and prices are expected to skyrocket as a result.In the Lockyer Valley area west of Brisbane, a flash flood swept through the town of Toowoomba this week, killing at least 14 people and leaving more than 70 missing.Poor weather has continued to hamper rescue operations there and in other parts of the state.Police have warned that there are likely to be gruesome finds, and Bligh said the country should brace for disturbing discoveries in the days ahead."I don't think anything can prepare any of us for what we might see in the Lockyer Valley," she said in one of a series of news conferences she has been holding every two hours over the last few days.Queensland police earlier had declined to comment on suggestions that there was a "mass grave" underneath a bridge in the Lockyer Valley town of Grantham, which police have cordoned off as they search for bodies."The problem we have is that the people have been washed out of their homes, and some of the homes are actually destroyed, like bombs have gone off there," Ian Stewart, Queensland's deputy police commissioner, told Australian television Thursday. "It's a war scene in the Lockyer Valley today."
– Australia’s vast floods shut down the center of Brisbane today, sending thousands fleeing and others to stores in a panicked rush of food hoarding. Rescuers, meanwhile, combed the area for 43 people who have gone missing. Brisbane is the country’s third-largest city, home to 2 million people. Floodwaters are expected to peak before sunrise tomorrow, inundating roughly 20,000 homes and thousands of other buildings, the LA Times reports. “We are in the grip of a very serious natural disaster,” the premier of Queensland tells Reuters. “Brisbane will go to sleep tonight and wake up to scenes many will never have seen before in their lives.” At least 12 people died yesterday when flash floods shot through the town of Toowoomba. “Suddenly (26 feet) of water just came up and went right through the central drain,” said one woman. “It just knocked cars around like little matchboxes in a bath—was just terrifying.”