Australian officials are warning that many of the 53 people still missing from floods that devastated Queensland may never be found.
So far 16 people have been killed this week in the devastating flooding that hit Queensland. Since flooding began in late November, a total of 25 have been killed.
CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer, reporting from Brisbane, said the remains of a woman were found Thursday, 80 kilometres from where she was first reported missing.
"Rescue officials are being very blunt and have no illusions. They say there's a strong chance a lot of these people who haven't been accounted for may never be found," Mackey Frayer said.
As the floodwaters emerge and the cleanup begins, a new threat is emerging. With houses, roads and businesses covered in a slimy muck that could include everything from sewage to rotten food and fertilizer, officials are taking no chances.
"We need to brace ourselves, when this goes down and it's going down quite quickly, it's going to stink -- an unbearable stench," said Queensland state premier Anna Bligh. "We want this mud gone out of our city as quickly as possible now, it's a big public health issue."
Mackey Frayer said health officials are warning residents to throw out anything that has touched the contaminated waters.
"The concern now is they want to get as much of the debris collected, that includes things inside people's homes that have been worst affected, they want to rip out all of this debris, collect it, dispose of it before it breeds a new threat which is disease," she told CTV's Canada AM.
In Brisbane, Queensland's capital and the third-largest city in the country with two million people, more than 30,000 homes and businesses were flooded when the Brisbane River overwhelmed its banks.
But upstream the damage was equally as devastating, if on a smaller scale.
Many of the missing are from around Toowoomba, a city west of Brisbane in the Lockyer Valley where a powerful downburst caused an almost instant flood that washed away dozens of cars and even entire buildings.
Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said Friday that officials may never be able to find everyone swept away by the raging torrent -- including a number of children.
"We would certainly hope they would find them all," Atkinson said. "Regrettably, we could not exclude completely the possibility that some may never be found."
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard doubled the number of soldiers deployed to the flood area, bringing the total to 1,200. They are helping with everything from shovelling muck out of homes, to co-ordinating rescue efforts.
"There's a lot of dirt, a lot of filth, a lot of mess that needs to be cleaned up," Gillard said. "We've been through some very difficult days and there's still a lot to go through in the weeks and months that lie ahead."
Peter Buck, a Canadian living in Brisbane with his Australian wife and their children, said he has been impressed with Australians' ability to persevere in the face of disaster.
"Australians have a real sense of how to get through things," he told CTV's Canada AM via Skype.
"What I've been really impressed with is they just sort of get on board and get it done."
Many have even managed to retain their sense of humour amidst the tragedy and destruction, he said.
In one case, someone posted a sign asking if anyone had seen their missing goldfish.
With files from The Associated Press
