A family's view from their house in the rural locality of Braemeadows, near Ingham. (Supplied: Alicia Torrisi) Photo: Supplied: Alicia Torrisi
Intense flooding is continuing in parts of Queensland with authorities predicting the peak for the north's most populated city of Townsville to hit on Tuesday morning.
The city has been inundated with more than 600mm of rain in the past week, with six suburbs dubbed "black zones" at risk of deadly flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the weather system would start to ease from Tuesday, but warned the north of the state could have further rainfall totals of up to 500mm.
"Heavy to locally intense rainfall … is expected to continue, with falls between 150-300mm, particularly between the areas of Tully and Giru."
Townsville is Queensland's largest regional city outside of the south-east corner, with a population of nearly 200,000 people.
Rollingstone to the north-west has had more than 1,200mm of rain in the past week.
Locals are staying positive in a country music hub in Halifax. (Supplied: Kelly Rees) Photo: Supplied: Kelly Rees
Major flood warnings are still in place for the Haughton River catchment, Aplin Weir, and the Herbert, Upper Burdekin and Townsville's Ross River, which is forecast to exceed 2 metres overnight.
Residents in Townsville's black zones - the six suburbs of Hermit Park, Railway Estate, Rosslea, Idalia, Oonoonba and Cluden - have been warned to stay away until the all-clear has been given.
Collopy said while the modelling showed a gradual easing of the tropical low off the coast near Ingham, the flooding risk was not over.
"There is a lot of water in those catchments, there's already an incredible amount of water on the ground and there is more significant rain to come, so it will take days for water to come out of those systems," he said.
At Ingham, 100 kilometres north of Townsville, the town has experienced its worst flooding since 1967, according to the local mayor.
This street in Ingham is entirely flooded. (Supplied: Kieran Volpe) Photo: Kieran Volpe
Peak expected Tuesday morning
Townsville Disaster Management Group chair Andrew Robinson said he expected water in Townsville's black zone to peak between 7am and 8am on Tuesday.
"That will be a combination of water coming from upstream, as well as tidal surge and the rainfall itself," he said.
Robinson said some people in that area had chosen not to evacuate.
"There has been a number, probably less that 10 per cent of people, who have decided not to act upon that advice," he said.
"My advice to those would be to move, to evacuate. We do know that the black zone will be inundated, it's just a matter of how much."
The Ingham substation on Monday morning. (Supplied: Ergon Energy) Photo: Supplied: Ergon Energy
Premier David Crisafulli gave an address earlier on Monday, saying residents in black zone areas needed to stay away until the all-clear could be given.
"At this stage, it can't be," he said.
"Ultimately, the flooding situation will be impacted by the amount of rainfall, the tides and dam releases.
"We are prepared for a scenario where rivers may continue to rise, we are prepared for a situation where high tides may impact different communities."
Emergency services inundated
It has been a busy few days for emergency services.
Queensland Police Service deputy commissioner Shane Chelepy said there had been no deaths or missing people since a woman died in floodwaters in Ingham on Sunday morning.
"We saw 480 requests for assistance for our SES in the past 24 hours alone," Chelepy said.
"We saw another 11 swift water rescues last night … we also saw an enormous amount of calls for service around our SES, our water police, our police, our fire department."
Chelepy said floodwaters had started impacting communities further inland.
"In Charters Towers, we had a number of rescues last evening with motorists trapped in their vehicles," he said.
There are currently almost 400 people taking shelter across six evacuation centres in Townsville, Ingham and Cardwell.
Chelepy said the defence force was ready to assist in Townsville, with interstate members poised to deploy to Queensland as soon as waters receded.
Road and school closures
More than 100 schools are closed until further notice, deemed unsafe for students to attend.
This includes 66 state schools, 16 independent schools and 22 Catholic schools.
Over 100 early childhood centres are also closed.
The Townsville Airport reopened on Monday morning.
Queensland Rail has stopped its train services around Townsville, reporting there are nine bridges submerged in the area.
The Bruce Highway is also damaged in multiple areas, leaving some north Queensland communities cut off entirely.
This story was originally published by ABC News.
