Floods in Australia hit mining and damage crops

By Michael Perry

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Flooding rivers and heavy rains cut off towns, stopped mining operations and damaged crops in three Australian states on Tuesday -- one week after devastating bushfires swept the country's southeast killing 200 people.

The tropical state of Queensland has been battling major floods since December 2008, with 62 percent of the state underwater, after a series of storms and a tropical cyclone.

The damage bill in Queensland is estimated at A$210 million (95.5 million pound) and the floods are not expected to subside for another month, emergency services in the state said on Tuesday.

Scientists say climate change will bring not only warmer temperatures to Australia, and as a result more droughts and bushfires, but also more extreme weather like tropical storms that cause floods.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is expected to come under pressure to introduce a tougher climate policy later this year as a result of the nation's deadliest bushfires last Saturday and the subsequent flooding.

Thousands of cattle are estimated to have perished during the Queensland floods, which have also cut off roads and swamped properties across the state's remote northern regions.

"There have been losses (of livestock) and they are potentially in the thousands, but until people can get around nobody is putting a figure on it," AgForce chief executive Andrew Freeman told local media.

People in Queensland have been warned to be on the lookout for crocodiles and snakes in floodwaters.