The official death toll from Australia's Queensland flood disaster has now reached 15, with 61 still missing and grave fears for another 12, the state government confirmed on Thursday.

Flood water covers a section of the Ipswich motorway west of Brisbane January 13, 2011. Flood water in Australia's third-biggest city peaked below feared catastrophic levels on Thursday but Brisbane and other devastated regions faced years of rebuilding and even the threat of fresh floods in the weeks ahead. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Roberts said the total number of people missing was 61, with grave fears for another 12.

Earlier on Thursday, Premier Anna Bligh announced the first fatality confirmed in Brisbane.

She said a 24-year-old man had been checking his father's inundated property in suburban Durack when he was sucked down a storm drain.

Bligh warned people to obey closure signs because the situation was still very dangerous in and around the streets and suburbs of Brisbane and Ipswich.

"Underneath those floodwaters are rapidly moving dangerous, sharp objects. Walking through waters even only up to your ankles can mean that you'll be at risk of serious injury," she said.

The official death toll is expected to rise on Thursday as searchers finally reach small towns in the Lockyer Valley.

Earlier on Thursday, the state disaster coordinator Ian Stewart said grave fears were held for 12 people, most of them from two families, in the Murphys Creek area west of Brisbane.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet