Hospital evacuated as Australia hit by heavy flooding January 29, 2013 -- Updated 0613 GMT (1413 HKT) Heavy flooding hits Australia Thousands evacuated as flood waters continue to rise in Australia Four people have died including three-year-old boy hit by tree Hospital being evacuated in hard-hit town of Bundaberg Helicopters pluck stranded from their rooftops (CNN) -- Heavy flooding in Australia caused by torrential rains has forced mass evacuations from towns along the country's east coast, with critically-ill patients and newborns from one hospital being airlifted to safety. The floods, which came in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Oswald, have killed four people so far, including a three-year-old boy who died after being hit by a falling tree in Brisbane, Australia's third largest city. Bundaberg, a coastal town about 360 kilometers (220 miles) northwest of Brisbane, was particularly hard hit, with more than 2,000 residents spending Monday night in evacuation centers, ABC News reported. On Tuesday, the town's hospital was being evacuated as the flood waters continued to advance. Patients from flood-hit Bundaberg hospital wait to be airlifted to safety A spokeswoman for Australia's Department of Health said that about 130 patients were being airlifted to hospitals in Brisbane as a precaution. If the floodwaters reached 10.1 meters, it would affect the hospital sewage system, making the hospital clinically unsafe, the spokeswoman said. I think they are expected to rise to 9.8 meters and that's a bit too close for comfort. We started transferring the most critical patients last night. The rest will be evacuated today. READ: Brisbane showground becomes refuge from floods Around 10 newborn babies and critically ill were taken to Brisbane in the early hours of Tuesday, while two C-130 aircraft from the Royal Australian Air Force arrived in Bundaberg later that morning to evacuate the remaining patients and some pregnant women nearing full term. Evacuations have also been ordered in the town of Grafton in New South Wales, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) north of Sydney. An aerial photo taken above Bundaberg posted by Queensland State Premier Campbell Newman on his Twitter account showed vast swathes of land under water. "Extent of the flooding is staggering," he said in the post. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that 100 Australian military personnel had been deployed to Bundaberg, where the Burnett River is expected to peak at around 9.6 meters later today, breaking a 1942 record. A dozen helicopters were used to rescue a 1,000 stranded residents, many plucked from their rooftops, "There's debris everywhere, the trampolines are everywhere, all the kids stuff is everywhere -- it's just gone," Melissa Smith, who was among those winched to safety, told ABC News. Residents and officials are being particularly cautious, after flooding caused by heavy rains in late 2010 and 2011 left much of Queensland, known as the "Sunshine State," under water. Those floods killed 35 people.