Central Brisbane Shuts Down - Up To 20,000 Homes Expected To Flood; Flood @ 19+ Meters

(Reuters) - - Massive floods shut down the center of Australia's third-largest city, sent thousands fleeing from their homes and sparked panic buying of food on Wednesday as rescuers searched for 43 people missing in floodwaters.

Australia's biggest floods in a century have so far killed 16 people since starting their onslaught across northern mining state Queensland last month, crippling the coking coal industry, destroying infrastructure, putting a brake on the economy and sending the local currency to four-week lows.

The flood surge is expected to peak in Brisbane, a riverside city of two million people, before sunrise on Thursday and last for days.

"We are in the grip of a very serious natural disaster," Queensland state premier Anna Bligh said, predicting almost 20,000 homes could be flooded at the river's peak. "Brisbane will go to sleep tonight and wake up to scenes many will never have seen before in their lives," she warned.

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