Australia Floods Claim 6 Lives

Six people were confirmed dead by Australian authorities on Wednesday as floods continue to swamp parts of Australia's Queensland state.

The heaviest floods struck the town of Gympie, where the Mary River rose at three times its normal flood rate and burst its banks, taking many locals by surprise.

The floods left Gympie awash on Wednesday, with only the roofs of some homes visible above the flood waters, leaving area residents to call it the "Flood of the Century."

A young boy was found clinging to the trunk of a tree, up to his neck in water, CBS News Correspondent Ed Crane reports. In a dramatic moment, the rescuers managed to haul the boy to safety.

Local officials said some people were winched from their homes by helicopter and others taken to hospital by boat.

"One couple had put their furniture higher and higher up in their house until eventually they had to be pulled from the attic by the rescue helicopter," said emergency services spokesman Ray Myers.

Flooding is common in the area but local officials said this time, the waters swelled much faster than usual.

The river peaked early on Wednesday at nearly 72 feet, the highest level since 1893. Preliminary damage from the flood was estimated to be two million Australian dollars.

Police said the body of a 41-year-old man was found tangled in flood debris in a creek near his home about 65 miles north of Brisbane.

The man's car was discovered about 330 yards away. Police said he had probably tried to swim across the creek but became trapped in tangled branches.

Three people were killed on Tuesday - - an eight-year-old boy who drowned in a stormwater drain, a 25 year-old man who was swept over a weir and a 60 year-old man whose body was found in a river.

Myers said helicopters dropped food and medical supplies to isolated farms which had been without power for two days.

Rescue workers managed to pluck two teenagers from the floodwaters on Wednesday after they were trapped at the foot of a weir south of Brisbane.

Local police said they had started evacuating people from low-lying areas around the town of Maryborough, about 150 miles north of Brisbane, where the swollen Mary River was expected to peak at about 30 feet on Thursday.