With the Murrumbidgee River expected to reach its highest level in nearly 160 years, more than 9,000 residents in the southeast Australian town of Wagga Wagga were ordered to leave their homes Tuesday.

A state of emergency has been declared in Wagga Wagga, 285 miles southwest of Sydney.

Wagga Wagga lies on the Murrumbidgee River, southwest of Sydney (Wikimedia Commons)

Mark Murdoch, assistant commissioner of the New South Wales police force, from Bloomberg:

“We are planning for the worst, hoping for the best.”

State Emergency Service Deputy Commissioner Dieta Geski, from ABC:

"We're watching with interest as the design height down there is 10.7 meters and there's uncertainty about the integrity of the levee above that height."

Residents and officials are piling sandbags at and near the levee.

Heavy rains pounded New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria over the weekend leaving at least two people dead.

For much of southern New South Wales, the floods have been the worst in 40 years.