State of emergency in flooded Australian town

AUSTRALIA: Australian police declared a state of emergency Friday in the large outback town of Katherine as flooding which has forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents continued for a second day.

"Extraordinary measures are required in order to allow police and counter-disaster authorities to do their job as effectively as possible," Northern Territory Police Minister Paul Henderson said.

More than 600 residents spent Thursday night in emergency centres after floodwaters swept through the town's main streets and the Katherine River started to breach its banks.

SYDNEY, Friday, AFP