Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has urged residents to stay home amid an "unrelenting" flood crisis that has claimed six lives in the state and threatens to inundate more than 1400 homes in Brisbane.
A severe weather warning is in place for southeast Queensland and areas in northern NSW as wild weather and dangerous flooding continues to severely impact large swathes of both states.
Six people have died in Queensland, with a search under way for a yachtsman missing in the Brisbane river.
Addressing media in Brisbane on Sunday afternoon, Ms Palaszczuk described the rain in the state's southeast as "non-stop", and warned the extreme weather was unlikely to ease over the next 24 hours, before moving south.
"I don't want to see any more deaths. So please, please if you do not have to be out today, just stay at home, because this water is unrelenting at the moment," she said.
"This is a very extreme weather event that we have at the moment."
The premier expected there could be more around 1430 homes across the city impacted as waters rose to over three metres.
The Bureau of Meteorology expects moderate flooding for the Brisbane river, but warned that it was a "very evolving situation", with updates on conditions scheduled for later on Sunday, and cautioning that the flood risk in the city could be upgraded.
A flood warning for 16 suburbs along the Brisbane River was issued on Saturday evening by Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner amid fears "several thousand properties" could be inundated.
In Gympie, Ms Palaszczuk said there were around 550 people in the town's evacuation centre, and a total of 1040 evacuated across the state.
Authorities expect Gympie's swollen Mary River to rise above its highest level in 23 years, while supplies have been delivered to an Indigenous community in nearby Cherbourg set to be cut off by floodwaters.
Severe weather was also moving to the Gold Coast, with authorities monitoring the Logan and Albert rivers and calls coming in for assistance from the Gold Coast hinterland areas.
Amid the crisis, water was being released from Brisbane's Wivenhoe Dam, which was at 160 per cent over capacity. The Moogerah Dam, inland from the Gold Coast, is also spilling, as is the Atkinson Dam.
Parents concerned about children going to school on Monday would be updated about effects on the education system.
"Education is doing a lot of work at the moment. There will be some schools impacted," Ms Palaszczuk said.
Meanwhile, the search continues for the sole sailor, aged in his 70s, who fell overboard from his vessel near the mouth of Breakfast Creek about 4.45pm on Saturday.
Those who died nclude a man who lost his life in the Brisbane suburb of Indooroopilly when his car became submerged. The 34-year-old tried to swim to safety but witnesses raised the alarm when he failed to surface.
On Saturday, police divers found the body of a 37-year-old man in floodwaters near Gympie, north of the Sunshine Coast, while that of a 54-year-old man was discovered at Stones Corner in inner Brisbane.
A female SES volunteer was also killed when a car she was in was swept away en route to a rescue near Ipswich on Friday night.
The deaths follow those of a 54-year-old man killed riding a motorbike through rising water at Gympie last week and a 63-year-old found dead in a submerged car on the Sunshine Coast.
Australian Associated Press
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