Residents on the north Queensland coast are bracing for flash flooding as an extreme weather system sweeps across the state.
A severe weather warning extends from the central-west to the coast, where places like Townsville are expected to receive up to 250 millimetres of rain on Wednesday.
The SES has flood boats on standby and has pre-deployed crews to Ingham and the Burdekin.
May rainfall records have already been broken in Hughenden, which has received 70mm over the past 48 hours, as well as in Richmond, which received 64mm.
Cloncurry has also smashed its previous record of 21.6mm, hitting 27.6mm.
"As this band moves towards the coast, we can expect to see more records broken for this event," BOM senior meteorologist Laura Boekel said.
"In the central-west area, we are expecting six-hourly totals of up to 100mm in general. But if we do see storms within that rain band, that's where we could see totals exceed 150mm in that rain band," Ms Boekel said.
"Generally around the coast, [we expect to see] up to 150mm, noting that that could be a bit higher within a six-hourly period.
Ms Boekel said Wednesday's forecast would see a daily total of up to 250mm of rain over Townsville, with more expected later in the week.
"Some pretty high rainfall totals expected within the day tomorrow as well as Thursday," she said.
Downpour a 'godsend' for graziers
Flinders Shire mayor Jane McNamara described the downpour so far as a "godsend" for graziers.
"Quite a bit of the Flinders Shire was drought-stricken, so we're really celebrating this rain," she said.
"Just beautiful rain to follow up from that rain we had a couple of weeks ago, which will bring some unprecedented grass growth at this time of the year."
In Rockhampton, the council is offering sand piles to residents preparing for potential heavy rainfall in the region and localised flooding.
Local Shane Reynolds took advantage, shovelling enough bags to fill his trailer.
"We flash flood where we live, so [even with] 50mm of rain, it comes in underneath the house, so what we're doing is trying to minimise that– depending on the rain.
"I've done it before, many a times.
"Apparently [we could be] getting 200mm, 300mm, or 70mm – they don't know, so you're just better off being prepared."
Ms Boekel said the severe weather had been triggered by a moist, tropical air mass extending down from the state's north.
"The air from the tropics is really moist … and that's being pushed down across really large parts of Queensland, all the way down to the south-east corner," she said.
Weather system heads coastal
South of Innisfail on the north Queensland coast, more than 190mm of rain has fallen at the BOM's Mourilyan Mill Alert since 9am.
Mourilyan Bakery owner Milva Cumuglia said the downpour peaked around lunchtime and left the Bruce Highway partially closed.
"The gutters were full of water, the water was just streaming down the footpath and it was almost cyclonic because there was a lot of wind and the rain was coming from all directions.
"We never really got a wet season up here, so to have thunder, and I mean big cracks of thunder and lightning in May, is crazy."
Ms Camuglia said she feared she would have to close the bakery as the water rose around her.
"We had water coming through the back door of the bakery right through to the front," she said.
"It was only about a millimetre off coming into the baking room and I thought 'we're in trouble now'.
"At that stage when we were deciding what we were going to do it then just stopped."
The BOM has wound back concerns for western Queensland towns, including Longreach, which has received just over 30mm since Monday.
"Overnight in particular, we've very concerned about the north tropical coast south of Cairns and the Herbert and Lower Burdekin as well," BOM forecaster Pieter Claasen said.
"[We're] likely to see falls widespread in the 100-200mm range there in the next 24 hours, and could see isolated rain in excess of 250mm in the next 24 hours as well."
Outback councils remain concerned for motorists travelling in the region, due to likely road closures and boggy conditions.
"For visitors, please stay where you are at the moment until this rain influence goes over, the best advice is if you're in a town just stay there for an extra couple of days," Mr McNamara said.
Man rescued from floodwaters 'lucky to be alive'
Meanwhile, a man in his early 20s is "lucky to be alive" after police and firies rescued him from a flooded causeway in Mount Isa on Monday.
The man entered the flooded Alma Street causeway at 11pm and was swept 500 metres downstream of the Leichhardt River, clinging to reeds along the river for 30 minutes.
Queensland police Inspector Erin Shawcross said the man was "extremely lucky to survive".
"Our police and other responders on the night traversed along the banks to maintain a visual as he was swept downstream and was able to hold onto a tree when they arrived. It certainly could have turned a lot more nasty," Inspector Shawcross said.
He was conscious and breathing when rescued but was unable to walk due to exhaustion and was taken to Mount Isa Hospital in a stable condition with hypothermia.
'Five times your May average' for Townsville
Ms Boekel said the rainfall would become more widespread and move further north to Townsville from Wednesday.
"As the week moves on, we are expecting to see that rainfall move towards the coast, to areas of Townsville and … south of Cairns, that's where we can expect to see the heavier rainfall," Ms Boekel said.
"Generally, the range [predicted] for Townsville is 150 to 200mm, noting that could be higher if we do see different phenomena.
"We typically see around 30mm of rain in Townsville [in May] and we're predicting at least 150mm."
Townsville mayor Jenny Hill said sandbagging depots were open around the city and urged residents in flood-prone areas to prepare.
"This sort of weather we normally expect during the wet season [but] it's unusual at this time of year," Ms Hill said.
"Part of the problem is we don't know exactly how the rain will fall and the intensity.
"If we receive 150mm in two hours for example, and that's some of the problems we had in 2019, areas that aren't really covered by the Ross River Dam could be at risk of flash flooding."
Ms Hill said parts of the Bohle catchment and Northern Beaches were most at risk.
"If we see significant rainfall tonight, we might see for example that [lower Bohle] bridge go under again and major traffic jams," Ms Hill said.
"This is a one-day event and we should have the resilience within our community to be able to deal with this."
The wet weather is expected to top up the Ross River Dam, which is currently at 68 per cent capacity.
Life-threatening flash flooding possible
Ms Boekel warned this week's local, intense rainfall could see life-threatening flash and riverine flooding.
A flood watch is current for several already-saturated catchments across the state.
"Especially in the south-east and along parts of the coast, we've already seen quite a lot of rain, so it doesn't take a lot of rainfall for catchments to respond really quickly," Ms Boekel said.
"That's when we can see flash flooding and those situations that become more life-threatening."
Low-flow releases from Somerset Dam into Wivenhoe Dam are planned for the next two days to manage water levels.
