By Owen Jacques and Grace Nakamura, ABC
A north Queensland town has been ordered to urgently seek higher ground as floodwaters continue to rise for a third day.
The alert for the Cardwell area, issued shortly after midnight, warned the situation "poses a threat to life and property".
The heavy falls have continued, with pockets receiving more than 500 millimetres for multiple days.
More than 10,000 properties remain without power.
The flood disaster was yesterday marked by the tragic death of a woman who was killed when an SES boat capsized at Ingham
Paluma Dam, north of Townsville has been drenched with 604mm of rain since 9am Sunday morning - it has now had 1316mm in 48 hours.
A small bridge on the Bruce Highway has also collapsed, unable to endure the intense rain.
The slow-moving low-pressure system continues to drive severe weather warnings, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning that more intense rainfall will lead to "dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding".
The warning area stretches from north of Tully to south of Townsville and west to parts of the Northern Goldfields.
Major flood warnings remain for the Haughton, Herbert, Ross, Bohle, Upper Burdekin and Murray rivers and their catchments.
The Heatley evacuation centre reached capacity on Sunday evening, with evacuees directed to another centre that opened at 8pm at Ignatius Park College.
Heaviest rain forecast for Townsville, with peak expected Tuesday
Matt Bass from the Bureau of Meteorology said the monsoon trough that has brought so much rain and devastation is moving away from Cardwell and back towards Townsville.
He said the Townsville city area would likely face the heaviest falls on Monday.
"I would expect that in the next few hours, we are going to see the rainfall start to pick up again for Townsville city," he said.
Mr Bass said the Herbert River at Ingham was still below its 1967 record of 15.2 metres, but that could change as rain keeps falling.
"We're currently around that 14.8 or 14.9, so about 30cm below that currently.
"But it does depend on the rainfall just for the next few hours. The potential is there."
Floodwaters in Townsville are expected to continue rising, with a peak not likely until Tuesday.
Local Disaster Management Group chair Andrew Robinson said the prediction is based on mathematical modelling, but is not set in stone.
"It's the old adage of plan for the worst and hope for the best," he said.
"It's affected by a number of different things like storm surge, highest astronomical tide, rainfall and releases from the dam."
The last flood of this catastrophic nature was in 2019, after a slow-moving monsoon dumped a deluge of rain over north Queensland for days.
The Queensland Fire Department said 40 swift water rescues had been conducted in north Queensland in the 24 hours from Saturday to Sunday afternoon.
Highway damaged and some services put on hold
The Bruce Highway has been badly damaged and closed in some sections, with reports that parts of the road have broken away entirely.
The Ollera Creek bridge near Paluma, which received the highest deluge over the weekend, has partially collapsed, leaving residents unable to travel along the highway.
Bambaroo resident Jenna Fighera said it will impact the community severely.
"We're cut off from Townsville at this point in time, and it's not looking promising to get to Ingham any time soon," she said.
With the power down, the mother-of-two is making do with a generator, but ran out of fuel with no way to leave the house to secure more.
"Fortunately we have an amazing little community and a few neighbours came to the rescue" Ms Fighera said.
The Townsville Airport is open under "normal operations" today according to a spokesperson.
"We recommend that you continue to monitor the status of your flight before travelling to the airport," the spokesperson said.
"If you are driving to or from Townsville Airport, please be careful on the roads."
Meanwhile, Catholic schools are closed for the day and matters in front of Townsville court have been adjourned or reallocated.
Essential services such as elective surgery have been put on hold.
Supermarket shelves empty
In Townsville, supermarkets are likely to have "empty shelves" for up to a week, with key roads and rail cut off.
North Queensland transport business owner Les Blennerhassett said some road trains meant for Townsville were stranded in Charters Towers.
"You can't do anything when all the roads are closed, so we're just parked up with fridge vans full of food, all the groceries, produce, all that stuff," he said.
He estimates it will be days before the roads reopen and a week before rail freight can go through.
"Your big supermarkets, your Coles and Woolworths, use rail and that's out at this stage," Mr Blennerhassett said.
"So they're in trouble, they'd have empty shelves."
- ABC