Residents cut off when the Daintree River reached a record flood peak have had road and rail links restored.

January 28, 2019

Road and rail links to far north Queensland have reopened after hundreds of people were cut off by record-breaking flooding along the Daintree River.

The river peaked at close to 12.6 metres on Saturday night, breaking a record that stood for 118 years.

Almost 500mm of rain fell on the river in 24 hours – 300mm of that in just six hours.

Severely damaged ferry infrastructure is also expected to reopen late on Monday after debris was cleared and broken cables replaced.

And a large landslip on Noah Range blocking the road from Cape Tribulation south has been partly cleared to reopen the route.

Schools will also be able open in time for the new school year that begins on Tuesday.

“This was the biggest Daintree River flood in living memory,” Douglas Shire mayor Julia Leu says in a statement advising some roads had also been partly washed away.

Water charging down the crocodile-infested river dislodged a ticket booth, ripped a public pontoon from its footings, and swept away a water tank at a block of toilets in the famous holiday spot.

Mangrove Adventures proprietor Dan Irby says emergency service workers had done a great job.

“After the 1996 flood we were out of action for a week and they were helicoptering in food supplies,” he told AAP.

“By this time, there’s a lot of mess and some cows washed down the river but I think we’ve mostly got away with it – no one has been hurt thankfully.”

The monsoon trough that swamped the Daintree area is tracking south.

A severe thunderstorm and flash flooding warning issued for residents around Tully after 126mm of rain was recorded at Bulgun Creek in the two hours.

A flood watch was issued for communities from Halifax, near Ingham, to Proserpine, just north of Mackay.