Brisbane, Australia (CNN) -- Floodwater that threatened the worst flooding in Brisbane in decades slowly started to recede Thursday, carving a muddy trail of destruction through the city which authorities warned would take months to clear up.
More than 20,000 homes were inundated with water after the normally subdued Brisbane River turned into a raging torrent as weeks of rain combined with bulging dams and high tides to push it to a peak of over four meters at high tide early Thursday.
At a news conference, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh fought back tears as she described the damage inflicted by the state's "worst natural disaster in our history".
"This morning, thousands of people in southeast Queensland have awakened to the unbearable agony of their homes being devastated, their businesses, their workplaces being devastated and, for some people, they've seen both their workplaces and their homes washed away," Bligh said.
The death toll rose to 15 Thursday as around 200 people, including Australian Defence Forces, Special Emergency Services and police, combed vast tracts of land and swollen waters for 70 people still missing.
The search was concentrated to the west of Brisbane, near Toowoomba, which was all but submerged after a wall of water tore through the town on Monday. CNN
