Australia: One state mops up while others prepare for the worst

Dozens of rural Australian communities were sandbagging their properties yesterday as they nervously watched four river systems rising from heavy rains upstream.

More than 3,500 people have evacuated their homes in north-central Victoria state, where some towns are predicting the worst floods in 100 years.

"In some of our river systems, we are seeing unprecedented stream rises," said State Emergency Service operations director Trevor White, who said the flood event was one of Victoria's biggest since records began.

Neil Pankhurst, mayor of the Murray River port of Echuca, said the town's levee was designed to withstand a one-in-100-year flood, which is dangerously close to what was expected last night.

He said some low-lying properties were likely to be isolated by floodwaters but most homes would not have water above floor level, he said. People were watching warily after witnessing the devastation floods have caused in Queensland.

Three weeks of flooding in the northeastern state left a vast territory underwater.