Emergency meeting held in response to floods crisis

As Rockhampton waits for the invading flood tide to reach its peak, an emergency cabinet meeting is underway in Brisbane to deal with the mounting crisis across Queensland.

Twenty three Queensland towns and cities are now affected in a disaster zone larger than the size of New South Wales.

Premier Anna Bligh is meeting with state ministers on Wednesday morning to help plan the response to a crisis that's affected more than 200,000 people and is expected to cost billions of dollars.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ms Bligh said the meeting will deal with the damage bill and what is expected to be weeks of flooding before waters recede.

"Without doubt this disaster is without precedent in its size and its scale here in Queensland and equally the recovery and the rebuilding effort will be without parallel," she told the Seven Network.

"We've got private homes, private businesses, all devastated and they'll have to be rebuilt.

"We need to start rebuilding as soon as we can, we're not going to wait for all the water to go down."

The premier's disaster relief fund surpassed the $10.4 million mark on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, it's D-day for Rockhampton as the invading flood tide kicks up a gear.

The weather bureau said the river was at 9.2 metres and steady at 6am (AEST) but could not say exactly when the peak would happen.

It's due to remain above the major flood level of 8.5 metres for at least a week.

If it reaches the predicted 9.4 metres - its second highest peak on record - 400 homes will be inundated and thousands more properties will be affected by floodwater.

About 100 people were camped out at the city's evacuation centre overnight, with an estimated 500 others staying with family and friends.

State disaster coordinator and deputy police commissioner Ian Stewart said the rise at Rockhampton was not rapid.

"It's rising very slowly... we're hoping against hope that we might not reach the 9.4 metre mark," he told ABC Television.

Mr Stewart said a couple hundred houses could be spared if the river does not climb an extra 20 centimetres.

"Every centimetre counts," he said.

Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said it would be two weeks before people could back into their homes, but Rockhampton was resilient.

"There's great camaraderie, people are helping their neighbours, the true Aussie spirit is shining through," he told Sky News on Wednesday morning.

He said the council did not need to force any evacuations.

"We had that ability under the disaster zone declaration but everyone moved voluntarily," he said.

Further south at the bush town of St George, residents are scrambling to build levees to hold out a record flood that's predicted to swamp 80 per cent of the community.

The weather bureau said the Balonne River was predicted to reach a record 14 metres at St George on Saturday, with the possibility of small increases on Monday or Tuesday.

Soggy conditions were making flood preparations difficult on Wednesday, with a severe thunderstorm alert current and up to 100mm of rain expected to hit the region over coming days.

Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce, a St George resident, said emotion was raw in the tight-knit community which had only just recovered from a flood in March last year.

"People see the flood waters coming down and say,'that's my life about to be covered in silt again,' " he told Sky News.

"The people who could be affected are the ones who were hit hard by the last flood.

"When it happens the first time it's a disaster but it's a disaster you think will happen once in your lifetime.

- AAP