Brisbane - As many as 600 homes in Queensland, Australia, remain under water as a result of flooding -- the biggest single event the area has had to face in its history.
This is according to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who addressed reporters in Brisbane on Friday.
She urged flood-affected Queensland residents to be patient as the floodwaters recede.
"As the waters go down, that is the time the need for patience is only just beginning," she said.
Bligh said roads must be checked for safety and inspections are required of houses that have been flooded.
Bligh also said the public appeal for flood victims has reached 17.8 million AU Dollars, with 5.3 million AU Dollars of that coming through people delivering donations to banks.
She said that ordinary mums and dads were making donations to the appeal and she thanked all concerned.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced fruit and vegetable growers in Western Australia's Gascoyne region will get extra government assistance through clean-up grants worth up to 15 000 US Dollars.
Record floods on the weekend of 18 and 19 December have destroyed crops and killed livestock in the areas along the Gascoyne River, while recent heavy rains have added to the damage.
Earlier, Gillard had agreed to a request from Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett to activate a joint Commonwealth-State Government assistance package to launch the grants.
The grants come on top of government loan assistance packages already announced.
Gillard announced the extra assistance on Friday before flying to Carnarvon of Western Australia to visit flood-affected residents.
She said the clean-up and recovery grants would help small businesses and primary producers in the flood effected region.
"I want to say to the people of Carnarvon that as Prime Minister, as a federal government, we know that they have been doing it tough and we want to work with them in recovery," Gillard told Australia Associated Press on Friday, adding that small businesses could use the grants to conduct repairs to help them resume trading as soon as possible.
The grants would help growers remove debris and dead livestock, purchase fodder, replace stock and repair damaged equipment and roads.
