Parts of north and central Queensland continued to be hit with intense rain on Tuesday, as the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) monitors a low-pressure system off the state's coast.
The weak low-pressure system is currently between Townsville and Mackay and has a low chance of forming into a tropical cyclone.
The system has drenched Queensland's central coast for the past three days, and the BOM has warned that intense rainfall and dangerous flash flooding is expected to continue across Mackay and the Whitsundays.
Emergency services received a distress call about 8am on Tuesday for a boatie after his boat sunk at the mouth of the Pioneer River at Mackay Harbour.
Fortunately the man was able to get himself off the boat and onto a dinghy where he made it safely to shore.
Whitsundays Mayor Julie Hall said 19 people were rescued south of Proserpine on Monday.
"There were 19 people who were stranded out at Goorganga Plains between floodwaters, who had been there for nearly 24 hours," she said.
"The floodwaters were on either side of them and they were stuck on a little island on the Bruce Highway.
"Emergency services were watching their welfare but it was decided to do a rescue.
"They were brought into Proserpine late yesterday afternoon.
"We had over 100 people in the PCYC in Bowen last night and we had 44 people in the Proserpine centre."
Cr Hall said there were also reports of property damage in the Whitsunday region.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said swift-water rescue teams were also deployed to Sugarloaf, Gregory River, and Hamilton Plains.
More than 90 SES requests for assistance have been made mainly for sandbagging and leaking roofs since Sunday.
Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said less rain had fallen overnight than was forecast which had eased the pressure somewhat. He said the Pioneer River had been forecast to hit 11 metres, but only reached 8.7m.
"The BOM forecast 500mm, that didn't occur. That's taken the pressure off. But another 3m on the river right now, we would've been in trouble.
"It is a very old fashioned wet season. There's a lot of rain. It's causing a lot of issues. Particularly up the valley."
Cr Williamson said the township of Finch Hatton was cut off.
"We need to work with the local disaster management groups about how long we expect this to go for, and how the resupply for the townships is going to happen.
"The torrential rain we're getting in the urban area, that run-off has nowhere to go. We got all the flood gates in. There will be a little bit of water lying around the streets, but not enough to go into people's homes."
BOM senior forecaster Harry Clark told ABC Radio Brisbane the heaviest falls were west of Mackay, where 357 millimetres was recorded in less than 24 hours at Finch Hatton.
"That location is now sitting at over a metre of rain in the past seven days so some truly significant rainfall up there," Mr Clark said.
"[And] obviously lots of issues with flash flooding and also riverine flooding.
"We will see another day of heavy rainfall in that part of the state today unfortunately before it [the weather system] does start to shift northwards from tomorrow," he said.
Mr Clark said a "very large" number of flood warnings were current for already saturated catchments in the north and central parts of the state.
"They're likely to continue for a number of days even once the rainfall stops just due to the huge volume of water that has fallen.
"Certainly in terms of the weather and the flash flooding risk, it will be really the next 24 hours before we start to see that ease into tomorrow and the later part of the week," he said.
The BOM said the immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed in the region, but "the situation will continue to be monitored and further warnings will be issued if necessary."
Significant rainfall observations from 9am on Monday to 4am on Tuesday included:
- 357mm at Finch Hatton
- 285mm at Eungella
- 210mm at Cannonvale
- 191mm at Proserpine Airport
The Eungella Dam, operated by Sunwater began spilling on Monday afternoon, after inflows of almost 25,000 megalitres since Sunday morning.
Teemburra Dam is also spilling, while controlled releases are being undertaken at Kitchant Dam.
The Eungella Range remains closed after a significant landslip at a waterfall crossing above Devils Elbow on Monday.
The Mackay Regional Council said it was liaising with the Department of Transport and Main Roads on plans to reinstate the road.
The Pioneer River peaked with major flooding at Mirani on Monday night, with moderate flooding occurring early this morning.
On Monday the Mackay Regional Council stood up its Local Disaster Management Group, encouraging motorists not to park on table drains as streets in the city were expected to be inundated.
Tourists stranded
Lea Brelage had to scramble for a hostel bed after she and her friends were stranded in Mackay on Monday on their way to Airlie Beach.
The German backpacker said she expected some rain – but not like this.
"I thought it would be sunny, I saw the pictures of the Whitsundays and Cairns and the beaches. I knew it was the wet season and I knew that normally it was humid but not that rainy … we didn't expect it to be that bad."
Stranded holiday-makers had to hunker down – some for days – at a petrol station midway between Proserpine and Mackay.
Rachel Van Muyen, who works at the Bloomsbury service station, said about 40 cars and 20 trucks were camped out there.
"Usually we have a couple of campers and a few trucks, however we do have a lot of people camped and stuck, in fact. We have one family who's been here for four days now.
Johnny Nasari and his dog Mia began their move from Airlie Beach to Sydney when the rainfall cut the Bruce Highway.
He said he was lucky to book a room in a pet friendly motel in Proserpine while they waited for floodwaters to subside.
He said police at the roadblock were advising motorists and truckies that the highway may not open for two days.
Acting premier Steven Miles said there were significant road closures through the entire region.
"Creeks and rivers are rising and falling very rapidly [and] concern at this stage is resupply for those communities who are now isolated," he said.
"The resupply committee will meet today to talk about getting supplies into those communities that may be isolated for days or even up to a week."
Monitoring for cyclone activity
The BOM expects the low-pressure system near Mackay and Townsville to begin moving away from the coast on Thursday.
Mr Hadley said the BOM was watching it "very closely" and monitoring its potential to become a cyclone.
"It's more than likely we won't see one," he said.
"Really it's mainly about the rain that's going to take place over the next few days and how it will affect the rivers and creek systems."
Mr Hadley said isolated locations near Cairns and Townsville could see heavy rainfall and he urged people living there to stay up to date with weather warnings.
"While rainfall amounts have been as high over recent days as there have been further south there's still the risk of some heavy rainfall which could lead to localised flash flooding as well as some further river level rises," he said.
Days of rain forced police to close the Bruce Highway at several locations in north Queensland on Monday leaving a number of motorists stranded near Proserpine.
Motorists have been urged to avoid flooded roads.
