Floods sweep the Australian state of Queensland, authorities evacuate dozens

Emergency services in the Australian state of Queensland evacuated dozens of people to safety on Saturday after record flooding caused by heavy rains swept through the northwest of the region.

Police said 53 residents of the remote town of Burketown, about 2115,<>km northwest of the state capital Brisbane, had been evacuated since heavy rains caused flooding last week.

It said it was preparing to evacuate more people later, especially as forecasters predicted river levels in the region would peak on Sunday.