British News Agency

The Bureau of Meteorology said on Friday that since March 23, when prolonged heavy rains began soaking southwestern and central Queensland, floods have “seriously impacted” a water catchment area of about 1 million square kilometers.

The extent of the flooding across Queensland over the past two weeks is so vast that it has submerged an area larger than four times the size of the United Kingdom — even larger than the combined size of France and Germany — and greater than the U.S. state of Texas.

In March, rainfall records were broken in parts of Queensland and New South Wales. In southern and southwestern Queensland, the average annual rainfall fell within just four days.

A meteorology spokesperson said, “Widespread major flooding continues across northern Queensland and New South Wales, and as the floodwaters move slowly downstream, it looks likely to persist for weeks.”

“The floodwaters will slowly flow through the southwestern Queensland catchments towards Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, and as the flood peaks begin to shift downstream, we’ll get a clearer picture of what might happen,” they added.

Homes have suffered major damage, and farmers have lost large numbers of livestock.