Australian town cut off by floodwaters

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ST. GEORGE, Australia, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Rising floodwaters isolated the town of St. George in Australia's Queensland state where about 400 people hunkered down Sunday night, officials said.

The rest of the community of about 2,400 people had already left under mandatory evacuation orders, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The remaining residents were expected to be airlifted out Monday since the roads have been inundated by the swollen Balonne River.

The ABC said the Weather Bureau projected the river could reach 49 feet by Tuesday, surpassing the previous high mark set in 2010 by about 3 feet.

"I can't stress enough stress enough the importance of people complying with the police order to evacuate the town," Premier Anna Bligh said. "I understand what a very difficult thing it is we are asking of people but we would not ask it if we did not believe personal safety was at risk."

At Charleville, authorities recovered the body of a woman who had been missing in floodwaters in Roma since Friday, the news network said.