River reaches new record height

Flood waters continue to fill a river in the Queensland town of St. George, as it reached a new record high.

A levee built the previous day seemed to have worked in stopping the rising water from flooding the area.

Around 2,500 people were forced from their homes.

The few residents that stayed behind to protect their property, spent the night pumping water out.

(SOUNDBITE)( English) RON BEESON, ST GEORGE RESIDENT SAYING:

"We had a big leak over there. There was only two of us here at the time and there was more stuff going on there than we could handle and I thought she was going to go, but we got over that and we just kept going."

Authorities expect water levels to start receding on Wednesday.

But the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has forecast that flooding will continue for weeks in some areas.

Sophia Soo, Reuters.