Flooding in far north Queensland has trapped several people in their homes, with residents reporting a tractor is floating.

January 30, 2019

Residents are being forced from their homes and rescues are underway amid rising floodwaters in far north Queensland.

Two people and a dog are among those trapped in houses at Bluewater, near Townsville, after more than 200mm of rain fell in three hours on Wednesday morning.

Bluewater Community Centre treasurer Darla Astill says the local creek has burst its banks along Forestry Road after torrential rain.

“A few of the locals stuck at home have rung me and one lady said she’d seen a tractor floating down the creek,” she told AAP.

“They’ve all been inundated with water and one lady said the neighbours car had been carried off in the water and she lost her shed.”

Power has been cut to the area and the local school has been evacuated.

The slow-moving monsoonal trough had already drenched the area, with more than 300mm of rain in some areas between Cardwell and Mackay in the past 24 hours.

Most towns in the region received between 100 to 200mm, with flash flooding cutting the Bruce Highway and local roads in numerous places.

The floodwaters also cut off a group of campers near Townsville, who had to be rescued with a mustering helicopter from Charters Towers.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the wet weather will hang around for at least another week.

It is expected to swing around to the north late on Thursday, back toward catchments that have already been inundated.

Meteorologist Harry Clark said heavy falls during the wet season were common in the state’s far north, but that this weather system was particularly persistent.

“This is on the high end an event in terms of the totals and persistent nature, and the fact it’s already quite saturated increases the risk of flash flooding,” he told AAP on Wednesday.

The BoM has re-issued a flood watch for numerous catchments north of Townsville, including the Daintree River which had a record-breaking flood over the weekend.

While the north of the state gets a soaking, parts of the southeast corner haven’t seen much rain since mid-December.

Mr Clark said Brisbane and Coolangatta will have baked through the driest January on record if no rain hits the gauges before the weekend.

Dalby also looks set to record its driest January since 1870 if no rain falls there.