DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: In Australia, massive flooding has left two-thirds of the state of Queensland under water, and now a cyclone is making a bad situation worse. CNN's Michael Holmes reports on the hard-hit town of Cairns.</s>MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cyclone Steve lashed the tourist mecca of Cairns throughout the night on Sunday. Driving rain, howling winds and widespread flooding left tens of thousands of homes and businesses without power, trees ripped from the ground and tourists wondering where the state's famous sunshine had gone.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I though England was supposed to be wet, but we've got enough in Australia. This is quite thrilling, isn't it?</s>HOLMES: Historic buildings lost their roofs, and motorists reported lucky escapes, but, incredibly, there was not a single reported injury, the town's emergency preparations apparently working well. Still, the damage bill will be in the many millions of dollars.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the, well, the third year in a row we've had one here, and the others you wouldn't even have known we had a cyclone. It was a real surprise to turn up last night and just find that we've got nothing here, nothing at all.</s>HOLMES: As dramatic as Steve was, it merely added to Queensland's woes after a 250 millimeter, or nine-inch, downpour a day earlier and no shortage of rain in the days before that. Queensland is a state in flood crisis. Two-thirds of this massive state are quite literally under water, and the prediction is for more rain to come. Rivers are swollen and roads impassable in many places, except using less-traditional means of transport. Cane fields have suffered major losses, some estimates running up to 100 million Australian dollars in lost production. Farther south, in New South Wales, farmers report thousands of sheep drowned. Back in Cairns, the clean-up is already under way, and there is much to clean up. Michael Holmes, CNN.
Massive Flooding Covers Two-Thirds of Queensland, Australia, as Cyclone Steve Comes to Visit