A makeshift levee is so far managing to hold back floodwaters in the town of St. George in Australia's Queensland state.
Thousands of residents have evacuated the town amid fears the Balonne River could reach 15 metres.
Authorities now say the river is expected to peak at about 14 metres sometime today - around 70 centimetres below the levee.
Authorities worked frantically to build a dirt levee and are confident that it will hold up.
But about 30 homes have so far been inundated outside the levee area and the number is expected to rise.
In Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced emergency relief for the flood-affected residents of Queensland and neighbouring New South Wales state.
"Unfortunately these scenes are only too familiar to us after the events of last summer, and now we're seeing Australians again in need and in trouble," Gillard told reporters.
Meanwhile, floodwaters surrounding Charleville are slowly dropping, but residents have not been allowed to return to their homes yet.
At Roma, north of St. George, hundreds of volunteers began helping residents with cleaning up about two hundred homes, according to local media.
APTN / 3 News