1,000 flee Aussie floods

ABOUT 1,000 people in a small Australian town evacuated their homes yesterday as floodwaters besieged the area after 10 days of heavy rain.

Emergency officials advised 1,200 residents of Coonamble, 257 miles north-west of Sydney, to relocate to less-threatened parts of town away from the rising Castlereagh River.

The river was expected to peak at 18 feet early today – its highest level since February 1971.