Brisbane , Australia ( CNN ) -- Recovering from flooding in northeastern Australia will be a `` reconstruction task of post-war proportions , '' a top official in Queensland state said Sunday . `` We have massive infrastructure damage that will take months and in some cases years to fully repair , '' Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told reporters . `` We have homes and lives torn apart , in some cases ... by an event of the most traumatic proportions . So we can not underestimate what is happening . '' Police in the flood-ravaged state said Sunday that the death toll from flooding had climbed to 18 , and they urged residents to knock on their neighbors ' doors as waters recede . `` Many people do n't have friends and family to check on them , so it 's up to the whole community to do their part and look out for their neighbors , '' acting Inspector Gareth Bosley said , according to a statement on the Queensland Police website . Meanwhile , flood warnings were in place Sunday in Victoria state in southeastern Australia as authorities said heavy rains threatened homes there . Police said 14 people are missing in Queensland , many of them in the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley areas . The missing include people who were swept from cars or were in houses that collapsed . `` Credible and reliable information provided to police indicates that these people were caught up in the storm surge that swept the valley , and police hold grave fears for their well-being , '' Queensland Police Service said in a statement . Among those who died were Llync-Chiann Clarke , 31 , and her two children , ages 5 and 12 , who were swept to their deaths as a rescue fire truck became inundated by floodwaters on a local road . Two other people escaped . Robert John Kelly , 30 , was found dead in an upside-down vehicle in a creek , authorities said . The body of Jean Gurr , 88 , who was trapped by rising water , was found in her residence . A teenager who was afraid of water drowned in the Queensland floods after begging rescuers to save his younger brother first . Jordan Rice , 13 , and his mother Donna , 43 , were swept away as a wall of water hit the town of Toowoomba last week . His family has hailed the youngster 's selfless actions . `` Jordan ca n't swim and is terrified of water , '' his father , John Tyson , told local newspaper The Toowoomba Chronicle . `` But when the man went to rescue him , he said , 'save my brother first . ' '' Officials warned the cleanup would take months . More than 20,000 homes were inundated after the normally subdued Brisbane River turned into a raging torrent as weeks of rain pushed it to more than 4 meters ( 13 feet ) at high tide last week . Residents in Brisbane were urged not to enter floodwaters because of the risk of illness after sewage plants along the river were inundated .
NEW : The official death toll in Queensland stands at 18 , police say . Fourteen people are still missing in the northeastern state . A man is carried away from a collapsed building after an earthquake hit central Mexico City on September 19, 2013. A mother and her two children are among those who died .