Australian authorities deliberately flood town

The Queensland government in Australia chose to deliberately flood parts of a town in order to prevent a nearby dam from collapsing.

As more rain fell in a week than the area is accustomed to seeing in a year, the Ross River dam above the town of Townsville was at 247% capacity.

Residents were evacuated as over 1,900 cubic metres of water a second was released through the floodgates.

Watch incredible footage of the dam being opened in the video above.