North Queensland remains inundated by floods and heavy rain from ex-tropical cyclone Jasper that has prompted the deployment of rescue vessels in Cairns.
The rain is forecast to continue throughout Monday and into Tuesday, with some areas already hit with totals of more than a metre and water levels expected to break 1977 records.
An emergency flood warning was issued for Machans Beach, Holloways Beach and Yorkeys Knob on Sunday night, with residents urged to take shelter and not to expect emergency services to come to their door.
Boats from the SES, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, surf lifesaving and water police were deployed after urgent calls for assistance in the area and Premier Steven Miles also sought the help of small rescue vessels from the HMAS Cairns naval base.
Further north, an emergency alert was issued for Wujal Wujal where major flooding from the Bloomfield River was affecting properties.
Evacuations and rescues have been carried out, mostly at Mossman, Douglas, Gordonvale and Innisfail, and homes in low-lying areas have been inundated.
Roads including the Bruce Highway were cut off and several bridges were damaged beyond use.
Laura Boekel of the Bureau of Meteorology said rivers and creeks were responding rapidly to further rainfall.
"It won't take a lot of rainfall in these catchments to see more flooding," she said on Sunday.
There is a "very high likelihood" conditions will not ease until Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Miles said earlier on Sunday the situation was very serious and could get worse.
"We have police and fire and emergency services and SES on the ground doing a fantastic job," he said.
"Do not make their job any harder.
"Do not put yourself risk.
"Do not drive through floodwaters."
Deputy Police Commissioner and State Disaster Co-ordinator Shane Chelepy said some residents climbed on to roofs to escape floodwaters and were forced to wait for rescue.
"It was too dangerous for us to rescue them," he said.
Authorities were in constant contact with the people until they were rescued, he said.
There were no reports of serious injuries or missing people in the state's north due to the disaster as of Sunday afternoon.
Additional government and non-government personnel were expected to arrive in the area on Monday to assist with the evolving situation.
Major roads had been cut, hampering the delivery of assistance to the Cairns area, Mr Chelepy said.
"It's definitely going to be challenging," he said.
"The rain is that heavy we can't get any helicopter support into the communities that are isolated.
"We're going to stage most of these resources in Townsville and then look at our support from the Commonwealth as well as private resources to get them into the region."
Cairns airport shut down on Sunday afternoon, with floodwaters predicted to exceed 3.8m.
Residents and businesses in the Cairns region were told to only use water for emergency purposes as council's treatment plants were offline.
QFES swift water rescue teams stationed across the region had received more than 50 requests for help as of Sunday.
The affected area was pre-emptively declared a disaster zone last week, to give local authorities additional powers to co-ordinate a response.
Federal disaster assistance has been extended to more areas, to help residents and local councils cover response and reconstruction costs.
Grants of $180 for individuals and up to $900 for a family of five or more are available to cover the costs of essentials such as food, clothing and medicine.
