Flood refugees bed down in centres

Residents band together to sandbag St Mary’s School in Charleville.

Related links

• Charleville on high alert
• Floodwaters surge through town
• Flood disaster declared in west

HUNDREDS of residents have spent the night in evacuation centres in the southwest Queensland town of Charleville, as authorities continue to monitor the levee banks holding the swollen Warrego River.

There had been fears on Saturday morning that the levees could be breached, sending a tidal wave of water through the town, but Premier Anna Bligh moved to reassure people, saying the levees were passing their first real test.

"Right now the levee is holding and on all current forecasts it's likely to keep doing that, but there's not very much room for error," Ms Bligh told reporters late yesterday.

"There's a 24 hour watch on the levee and if there's any change we'll be actioning it immediately."

More than 500 people were registered to spend the night with the town's evacuation centres even though their homes have so far escaped the flood.

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