MORE than 100 people in Beaufort were evacuated from their homes yesterday after Beaufort Lake burst its banks.State Emergency Services issued an evacuation warning to residents to the east of the town at 5am.Those residing at Olinda, Leichardt, Beggs and Pratt streets and Willoby Road were asked to relocate due to the inundation.Sixty houses were evacuated and residents gathered at an emergency relief centre at the Goldfields Recreation Reserve. Yesterday, Ballarat Incident Control Centre information unit leader Anna Larkin said residents could not return to their homes for at least another day.She said accommodation would be found for those unable to make alternative arrangements."Those whose houses are north of the railway line may be allowed back within 24 hours if their home has been electrically tested for safety and people south of the railway line probably can't return home for several days," she said."The water is dropping but we're still not confident it won't rise again so we're holding them off until we're confident it's safe to go back in."Visitors at Beaufort Lake Caravan Park were also asked to evacuate as the water neared their caravans.Caravan Park caretaker Hank Owen said there was no damage caused to his property."The place is very wet and there's a bit of cleaning to do but that will take a few hours this afternoon," Mr Owen said. "The water probably got within eight inches of going into one of our cabins. I had to evacuate a few caravans and people out of the cabin."I didn't lose anything, only a bit of sleep."Mr Owen said the water had started subsiding about 1pm and the weather had also cleared up."The sun is out now and life is getting back to normal. A beautiful sunny Beaufort."Beaufort Newsagency owners Mary and Jim Cox were among those who had to leave their homes.The couple, who has been at the newsagency since 2004, packed a suitcase of necessities before heading to their business where they would stay until further notice. Mr Cox said water levels had reached about one metre at their house and close to two metres at Neill Street. "What has happened is the wall at the north end of Beaufort Lake has come over the top. The dam wall has broken," Mr Cox said."The town is handling things quite well. The SES notified people by phone early this morning and houses were door-knocked."Ryan's IGA Beaufort manager Leo McCarty said the business was able to remain open despite the flooding at Neill Street.Mr McCarty, who lives in Ballarat, had to drive almost four hours to arrive at work yesterday."There was a lot of water but it's all gone now," he said.