Heavy rain is expected to ease today but the days of flooding has left supermarkets running low on supplies in parts of Queensland's north.
Senior meteorologist Harry Clark said a reprieve was in sight from Wednesday afternoon but warned flash flooding was still a danger for residents in central and north Queensland.
"We do expect to see this trough system start to shift further north and further offshore and we'll finally see the heavy widespread rain ease back to showers along much of the north Queensland coast."
He said with so much water on the ground and the possibility of storms and localised heavy rain in the days ahead, residents will need to remain on alert and pay attention to updated warnings.
Brad Moore from QFES said landslides and flooding had damaged a large number of roads.
"We have the result of all the water that has gone over different roads and the damage it has done to the roads. We are experiencing a lot of landslides up in the high areas, so there are still roads that have been cut there.
"It is still very dangerous for the community and if they need to travel, we are just asking that they pre-design their route, do a risk assessment on where the safest journey is to get to where they need to go."
He said river systems were still experiencing minor and major flood levels.
The State Emergency Service has received 70 calls for assistance in the last 24 hours, mostly for sandbagging and leaking roofs.
Mr Moore said it could be days before some areas were able to be accessed due to roads being cut.
Crucial supply shortage
The big wet has caused major freight issues with bare shelves in a number of stores including Coles and Woolworths across the Mackay region.
Ashley Jones' family owns the Finch Hatton General Store, west of Mackay, where the small town has recorded more than a metre of rain in the past week.
The store faces a shortage of some crucial supplies, including bread and milk.
"We got no newspapers through this morning and mail is affected as well," Ms Jones said.
"The majority of people are used to this sort of weather.
"We always keep stock of long-life stuff for people to get by, that's always our goal so people won't get stuck without anything."
Ms Jones is hopeful more deliveries will arrive soon, but freight companies are warning of delays across north Queensland.
Heavy rainfall has cut the Bruce Highway north of Mackay, leaving motorists and truck drivers stranded, forcing freight companies to find alternate routes.
'We can't safely get through'
The manager of a food distribution company based in Cairns and Townsville, Kieran Holland, said he was struggling to get supplies into Bowen, Ayr and Mount Isa.
The business normally gets more than 50 pallets of grocery supplies a day into the state's north.
"We can't safely get through with our trucks," he said.
"We won't be seeing any of that until next week and the Australia Day public holiday will add to the delays."
Re-routing supplies
Brisbane-based fruit and vegetable wholesaler, Simon George & Sons, is desperately trying to get out supplies.
"We are getting quite creative at the moment with how we are sending product," chief executive Ben George said.
"We are going through the middle of the state so product is getting there, albeit 24 hours later than it would usually do."
Mr George said the problem was getting supplies into the north, not getting produce from flood affected areas.
"We are not in Queensland's growing season at the moment so that is a challenge we don't have to face because most of the product at the moment is coming from central Australia or Victoria, so that is alleviating some of that pressure."
He said prices will likely increase.
"Our transport companies we use have to travel twice as far to get the product there and there is an associated cost with that," Mr George said.
Acting Premier Steven Miles said some communities could be isolated for up to a week.
"We continue to see significant road closures through the entire region. Concern at this stage is resupply for those communities who are now isolated."
He said the Local Disaster Management Group's resupply committee will work to get supplies into those communities.
