CANBERRA - Hundreds of Australians fled their homes in the remote outback town of Katherine on Thursday as floodwaters from days of rain swamped it and other nearby towns and the Katherine River threatened to burst its banks.
Emergency services in Katherine, a town of about 2,000 people some 300 km (185 miles) south of the tropical northern city of Darwin, said the river peaked at 18.8 m (60 feet) above the riverbed on Thursday after days of monsoon rains.
"The level of water in Katherine township is expected to start stabilising ... Water has entered the streets of the CBD, but is still at low levels in the township," the emergency services said in a statement, referring to the central business district.
Around 600 people were evacuated to two schools in the town.
Later on Thursday, emergency officials said between 200 and 300 residents of the nearby Jilkminggan community were being evacuated in two flood boats, with the remote township expected to be under water by early on Friday.
"With only boat traffic possible to the community, it would be a complex process," Katherine emergency official James O'Brien said in a statement.
In 1998, the Katherine River burst its banks when it reached a record peak above 20 m (66 feet), forcing half of the town's population to flee their homes, after Cyclone Les dumped more than 600mm (24 inches) of rain.
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