(CNN) -- Thirteen townships in Australia's flooded Queensland state were evacuated Thursday as forecasters warned it may be weeks before river levels start to drop.
All 130 residents of Condamine, about 185 miles inland from Brisbane, were evacuated because the town was inundated with water, Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts told CNN.
He said it was one of 13 townships where residents had to be moved out Thursday. In all, between 1,000 and 2,000 people have been evacuated, he said.
Roberts was in Emerald, an inland city of 15,000 residents that was experiencing some of the worst flooding Thursday. The Fitzroy River there was rising and expected to peak Friday at a record level of 16.2 meters (53.2 feet), according to Jeff Perkins, a supervising hydrologist at Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. CNN
