Flash flooding in the Barcoo River at Isisford has submerged two caravans and a vehicle that had been camping on the outskirts of the town when the rain influence came through on the weekend.
The officer-in-charge at the Isisford Police Station, senior constable Wes Venter said he took a call from a concerned local on Monday evening about a campsite that was completely surrounded by water.
While the campers at that location had a specialised four wheel drive and were successfully able to get to safety, snr constable Venter discovered others nearby that were impossible to reach any way other than on foot.
"We called in the local SES but they are just not equipped to extract vehicles or caravans in those circumstances," he said. "It needed something like a large tractor."
All the people involved are safe but their vans and belongings are now under metres of water.
The area beside the Barcoo River is a popular camping spot, and snr constable Venter said he and council officers began notifying people on Thursday of the weather forecast and the possibility of large amounts of rain over the weekend, and the difficulty of moving in wet black soil.
"It's a terrible thing to see - two of the people involved have lost their home as a result of this," he said.
"Again, it's a case of heeding advice, and keeping an eye on weather reports.
"I don't think they anticipated being inundated, and underestimated the volume of water.
"Even the locals are surprised how fast the water rose."
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the Barcoo River at Isisford at noon on Wednesday was 7.45m and rising fast.
That was 3.45m above the bridge and was well above major flood level.
The small town south of Longreach was completely cut off on Wednesday when Barcoo River floodwaters backfilled an unnamed creek 1km north of town and cut the road to Ilfracombe.
Snr constable Venter said on Wednesday afternoon it was 0.8m and rising.
He added that locals were saying the flood was approaching the second highest seen in the town after the record 1990 flood.
Much of the water is coming from falls in excess of 200mm in the Alice River catchment - Gerogery recorded 250mm and Mt Arthur had 285mm on Monday.
Anzac Day for the Chandler family at Home Creek brought 208mm, their highest daily fall since they began collecting rainfall records in 1939.
That water is now impacting their Isisford property, Oma, where managing partner Sally Edwards said they coping well, so long as there was no more rain.
Snr constable Venter said no premises in Isisford were threatened by flooding, and they were monitoring road conditions and how long they were likely to be cut off for.
Residents on the southern outskirts of Longreach watched water from the nearby Gin Creek reach their yards on Tuesday, before it peaked that afternoon.
Longreach disaster coordinator Craig Neuendorf said they were keeping a close eye on the Thomson River on the western side of town, which was steady at 3.71m at noon on Wednesday.
He said more water was on the way but they were not expecting any adverse impacts to the township of Longreach.
The Landsborough Highway north to Winton was closed in a number of locations on Wednesday, including at the Darr River, which was at 0.5m.
Chris Kirk from Queensland Helicopters said they had been busy helping isolated people move around, and undertaking stock spotting jobs, to make sure cattle were safely on higher ground.
He said creeks were full of water across the region.
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