The damage caused by the floods could cost as much as $13 billion for Australia to fully recover, according to National Public Radio.

In the days following the initial flood, at least eight people were killed and 70 others were missing. As the floods continue to spread, the death toll has risen to at least 18 people, according to the New York Times.

Hundreds of residents fled to rooftops to escape the 26 feet of rainwater that have plagued the city. Officials have urged the city’s residents to evacuate because there are no signs of the rains relenting, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The rains have been constant for more than two weeks, destroying towns and virtually paralyzing Australia’s essential coal and farming industries. Furthermore, river levels are not expected to drop for another week, reports NPR.

According to BBC News, since the tropical rains began to fall on Australia right before Christmas, the floods have already affected over 200,000 people, and the number is expected to rise.

According to officials, between 6,500 and 9,000 homes and business face potential flooding in the coming weeks in Queensland and Brisbane, Australia’s third largest city, reports BBC.

Farmers join the long list of concerned home and business owners, as the rains are expected to cripple the soil and nutrient level for crops. The Bureau of Meteorology predicts the rains could last through March due to the cool conditions in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean. This is associated with the current La Niña, which produces unusually cold ocean temperatures that create a weather pattern known to produce heavy rains.

These floods are a serious issue. Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman claimed that complete cleanup of the city would take months and reconstruction could take up to two years, stated NPR.

The rains are not contained to just one area. Queensland, Brisbane and Toowoomba are the major cities hit by the torrential rains, with large parts underwater, and adjacent areas are on alert for flooding.

The rain’s intense impact is having an enormous effect; the space occupied by floods is double the area covered by France and Germany combined, reported NPR.

The flooding has been so widespread that while communities are preparing for the worst, others have started the clean up process. However, the forecast predicts more rain to come, according to BBC.

Weather advisories are predicting that Australians will have to cope with the destruction even longer. Australia’s most expensive natural disaster in its history is causing its citizens to flee by the hundreds to evacuation centers with each passing day.

These overwhelming floods are hitting cities and towns after eastern Australia has gone through 10 years of devastating drought. Now, the citizens of Australia are fighting some of the worst floods in a quarter of a century, according to the New York Times.