Australian town empties ahead of record flood

Feb 5, 2012, 23:41 GMT

Sydney - The east-coast Australian town of St George was deserted Monday as the river that runs through it reached record levels and floodwaters threatened to overwhelm its levee.

'The town of St George has no prospect of holding back that water with the levee that they built,' Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said, noting that the flood level indicator was at 13.48 metres. 'We expect it'll continue rising for most of the day and exceed the 14-metre mark tonight.'

The only way into St George, 500 kilometres west of the state capital Brisbane, is by air.

Most of its 3,800 residents have obeyed an order to evacuate, leaving police, emergency services personnel and the military to monitor the onrush of muddy water.

Barnaby Joyce, the local member for the federal parliament, said his family had gone but he was staying and offering his house, built on a rise overlooking the Balonne River, as emergency accommodation.

'What I'm looking at is something that would fill Sydney Harbour every two days,' he told national broadcaster ABC. 'It's so quiet that it's a little disturbing. There's something that sounds a little bit like the sea but it's not actually the sea, it's a river and it is just outside the back door.'

The floods claimed their second life, with an 18-month-old girl drowned in flood waters. Also on Sunday, the body of a woman who was swept away with her car was found beneath a bridge in St George.