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Source: ONE News
Residents of the south-west Queensland town of St George are being evacuated as floodwaters surge down the Balonne River.
The rural town of about 2700 people is preparing for the worst with the river expected to reach about 13 metres on Friday night, before rising to 14 metres on Saturday - its biggest flood in 120 years.
The Department of Community Safety says while an evacuation centre has been set up at the showgrounds, many people are seeking shelter with family and friends.
Helicopters have been made available for evacuations, medical emergencies, resupplies and reconnaissance, as roads in and out of the town have been cut off.
"At this stage there are no reports of properties being inundated and the river is expected to peak on Saturday sometime," a DCS spokesman says.
Balonne Shire mayor Donna Stewart says the latest weather bureau advice is "uncharted waters".
"That's quite an increase on what we were expecting yesterday," she has told AAP.
"It's massive alright. And I'm quite worried but I don't want to be an alarmist.
"But we have no idea where that will take us."
An area greater than that of the state of Victoria is now under water in Queensland's south.
In Roma the floodwaters have eased and the cleanup is well under way, but Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) continues to monitor the situation closely following a small amount of rain early on Friday.
About 500 homes are flood affected, 200 of these have experienced flooding above the floorboards of their home.
Only six people used the evacuation centre on Thursday night, with most people able to find accommodation with families and friends.
In Charleville, where a cleanup is also under way, more heavy rain fell overnight, with up to 60 people taking shelter in the evacuation centre.
But levels in the swollen Bradleys Gully which runs through the town are starting to fall.
Seventy SES volunteers and 14 fire officers are on their way to the region.
A number of homes and businesses in the tiny town of Bollon have been inundated, but water levels peaked on Thursday night.
Further south, there are fears for Cunnamulla, with a major flood peak of about 10 metres expected early next week, a little higher than the 2008 flood level of 9.91m.
Since the start of the year, almost 80% of the state's 73 councils have been added to the list of areas eligible for disaster relief.
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