A muddy backyard pool serves as a reminder of just how close floodwaters came for Queensland resident Ann Brown.
The Bluewater local returned to her home fearing the worst after evacuating amid heavy rainfall that lashed the state's north.
She is among the lucky ones in the Townsville region, breathing easier after the Ross River fell short of peaking at a major flood level.
Heavy rainfall cut power and forced hundreds to evacuate across north Queensland, with Ingham among the worst-affected towns.
Two lives have been lost in the isolated community, while a man was swept away in floodwaters on Tuesday night.
Ms Brown has lived in the Townsville area for more than 30 years, experiencing major floods in 1998 and 2019.
When a downpour lashed the region again this week, she hoped history would not repeat itself.
"I do get very panicky once it rains. I've just been traumatised since then," she told AAP.
As local creek levels grew, Ms Brown and her husband fled.
When she got the all clear to return, she was terrified by what she might find.
Luckily flood levels fell short of their home's floorboards, leaving their brown pool and backyard debris as a reminder.
"I thought that it would have for sure gone through the house, but when I came home, we were very, very lucky," she said.
Ingham residents have not been so fortunate.
Streets and homes are inundated, with the local power substation also going under.
Power was cut, telecommunications affected and food supplies were dwindling for days.
Locals surrounded by flooding woke on Wednesday to the news there was no running water.
Water supply has since been rectified with restoring power now the focus after generators and workers were flown in by helicopter.
Locals needed some good news after a man was swept away. He remains unaccounted for after aerial and water searches.
The man - described as Caucasian, about 188cm tall, with dark hair - was last seen entering floodwaters about 5.15pm on Tuesday after arriving on a blue bicycle, police said.
An 82-year-old woman's body was found in a cane field when floodwaters receded on Tuesday.
The Ingham community was also rocked when a 63-year-old woman died after an SES boat helping people through floodwaters struck a tree and flipped on Sunday.
Floodwaters devastated the region after the nearby Herbert River rose beyond a 15.2m flood record set almost 60 years ago.
Reports emerged of Ingham residents lining up at a petrol station to fill jerry cans to power generators, with diesel reportedly running out on Tuesday.
There were also accounts of police maintaining order outside a local Woolworths, with hundreds queuing up outside to grab vital provisions.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister confirmed on Wednesday talks were underway with Woolworths to get food and other supplies into the area.
It could be days before the major flood warning in the Ingham area is downgraded.
Flooding in the rain-lashed region has spread inland, much to the surprise of locals in a rural town who witnessed fridges and freezers floating out of homes.
About 20 people at Georgetown fled to an evacuation centre after the nearby Etheridge River broke its banks.
"We're very wet. We've had property that has fridges, freezers float out of houses during the night," local mayor Barry Hughes told AAP.
Rainfall that had hammered the north tropical coast headed west to locations as far as Richmond, Charleville and Julia Creek.
Widespread showers and storms are expected across much of northern and central Queensland over the coming days and into next week, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Flood watches are current for northern, inland and central parts of Queensland.
