Flood overwhelms Queensland airport

Rockhampton's airport is closing to commercial flights this afternoon as floodwaters take hold in the central Queensland town.

Road links could also be cut as early as today, with water now creeping into low-lying parts of the community, forcing some residents into an evacuation centre.

Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter has warned about 40 per cent of the town could be affected when the Fitzroy River peaks at a forecast 9.4 metres on Wednesday.

Police have been given powers to compulsorily evacuate low lying areas after the river broke its banks but people are going willingly to an evacuation centre at CQ University.

Mr Carter is worried levels could go beyond 9.4 metres given the amount of water in the catchment upstream.

At 6am (local time) today, the river at Rockhampton was at 8.4 metres and rising slowly, causing moderate flooding, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Levels are expected to get to 9 metres later today, ahead of Wednesday's peak.

"This is similar to the 1991 and 1954 flood levels," the bureau said, warning water levels would likely stay above 8.5 metres for up to 10 days.

The last major flight out of Rockhampton will take off at 1.45pm (AEST) today. It will leave just after the last inbound flight arrives.

Inland, at the flood stricken inland town of Emerald, it is hoped a limited number of people might be able to return to their homes on Saturday afternoon after the Nogoa River receded slightly.

Central Highlands Mayor Peter Maguire told AAP the river, which peaked at 16 metres, had dropped to 15.7 metres this morning.

He said that at best an aerial shot of the entire Central Highlands region showed 1000 homes had been inundated while another 3000 homes had been affected by water.

"We've only worked that out by taking aerial shots," Mr Maguire said.

"There may be more homes affected, we don't know."

Mr Maguire said it would be months before life returned to normal in Emerald and the surrounding regions and towns.

"We're talking months of cleaning up and repairs," he said.

"The evacuation centres are still operating."

He said Emerald, where more than 1200 of the 13,000 population were evacuated, had plenty of drinking water.

Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser will visit flood ravaged areas including Bundaberg, Mundubbera and Gayndah today.

He said Mundubbera and Gayndah areas, where citrus crops were extensively grown, had been hard hit along with other nearby communities.

"The reality is that the list of towns affected is a long one here," Mr Fraser told the ABC.

"It's not just about the major centres where the flooding is worse, but there's many other towns that are across Queensland that have also taken a hit."

Mr Fraser has warned the state's finances will cop a double whammy from the extensive flooding.

Not only will the government face massive clean-up, recovery and assistance costs but income from mining royalties will be severely affected for two to three months due to lost production.

"Our economic recovery was underway but this will undoubtedly set us back," Mr Fraser said in a statement.

"The cost to the state will be huge - both in direct costs such as rebuilding roads, and other damaged infrastructure and providing relief payments to families - but also in lost income, while the mining, agriculture and tourism sectors recover."

"The floods come at a time when we have already we have seen the GST allocation cut by the Commonwealth by $1 billion and the rising Aussie dollar also hitting export revenues such as royalties.

"Royalty forecasts are likely to be hit with freight lines cut and reports that many mines may not reach full production again for two to three months.

"These floods are going to hit the bottom line hard."

Mr Fraser said he would delay delivering the mid-year Fiscal and Economic review because he needed to factor in the cost of the floods.

- AAP