A family has been rescued from the roof of their home on the northern Gold Coast, just minutes before it was swept away in floodwaters in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie.
A mother and two children waited for hours in the dark on Saturday morning as Luscombe St was flooded, before they were saved by emergency services, ABC News reported.
"I climbed over the balcony, hands and knees along the awning, stood up and made my first real contact with the parent and the two kids," one of the rescuers said.
The family was helped into a boat before their home was swept away 15 minutes later.
Some communities in Queensland's north are still without power and water since Debbie made landfall near Airlie Beach on Tuesday, irreversibly damaging at least 650 residences.
While some areas have started the gruelling clean-up, the central Queensland town of Rockhampton is still bracing for the worst flooding since February 1954.
In NSW, about 15,000 properties were isolated by floodwaters and about double that were subject to evacuation orders.
At least six people have died in separate incidents because pf Cyclone Debbie.
The Courier Mail reports 46-year-old Matthew Roser, from South Murwillumbah in NSW, died from a heart attack on Friday after his home was flooded.
"He was a great man," his son, Justin, said. "And went at life 110 per cent."
Nelson Raebel, 77, was last seen in Eagleby in Queensland on Friday before he was caught in rising floodwaters. Police recovered his body on Saturday afternoon.
Man's body found in Qld, Logan River peaks https://t.co/KITZODpxdi pic.twitter.com/lzLU8VMoYo
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 2, 2017
Two women, aged 36 and 64, were swept away by floodwaters in northern NSW.
Jan Baihn, 64, died in the NSW Hunter region, while Gitana Schiphoni, 36, was found dead on a flooded property south of Murwillumbah.
Marc Austin, 47, died in his flooded caravan after Murwillumbah went under water.
A German tourist, 31, was killed in a rain-affected car crash near Proserpine in Queensland.
There are still three men missing in Queensland. Authorities are still searching for a man aged in his 60s who went missing while bushwalking at Lamington National Park, a 50-year-old Mondure man and a 58-year-old male from Mount Pleasant in Mackay.
Cyclone Debbie made landfall as a category 4 cyclone before sweeping down the eastern seaboard and dumping heavy rain that led to flooding across southeast Queensland and northern NSW.
Around 650 residences in northern Queensland have been ruled uninhabitable from cyclone damage. Flooding has affected 38 homes and still threatens about 250 properties in the southeast. Flooding in Rockhampton threatens 5400 properties, including 3000 homes.
The army, emergency workers and volunteers have started the clean-up in north Queensland, while some parts of southeast Queensland are waiting for floodwaters to recede before the clean-up can begin.
In NSW, 15,000 properties were isolated by floodwaters. Northern NSW residents are still waiting for the all-clear from authorities before they can return to their homes and count the cost of the flooding.
Queensland is relying on a $170 million highway overpass to keep the state connected this week when it is expected to face its first major test as Rockhampton prepares for major flooding, The Courier Mail reports.
Rockhampton's Fitzroy River is expected to peak at 9.4m on Wednesday, making it their biggest flood in 63 years.
Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey yesterday announced the Yeppen traffic transition plan was expected to be enacted late today.
This means the Bruce Highway's low-lying southbound lanes would close but the new high-level overpass would remain open in both directions.
Built after the 2011 floods peaked at 9.2m, virtually cutting off Rockhampton from the rest of the state for several weeks, the overpass was designed to withstand one-in-100 year floods.
Bailey said most main roads west of Rockhampton would remain closed.
"With the volume of rainfall across the region, there is significant damage to road surfaces," Bailey said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian are set to see the damage in flood-hit regions of northern NSW first-hand today.
Berejiklian has urged residents to be patient as the damage is assessed.
"This is a huge catastrophe," she said. "This is a massive, massive natural disaster."
According to State Emergency Service (SES), about 15,000 properties were isolated by floodwater, and 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
The small Aboriginal community of Cabbage Tree Island was evacuated as the water rushed downstream on Saturday. The SES will focus on the clean-up effort in badly hit areas today.
Days after being forced from her flooding home in the NSW town of Lismore, a traumatised Christine Devine ended up in hospital after collapsing on her friend's floor.
"I just couldn't move and I was shaking," Devine told AAP after returning to her house to assess the damage. "It [her emotions] just exploded like a volcano."
The SES gave Lismore residents the all-clear to return to homes and businesses in the town's CBD, north and south yesterday afternoon.
Mayor Isaac Smith described the town as akin to a war zone and the Rural Fire Service has set up a base camp for hundreds of workers to help with the clean-up nearby.
Water came close to entering the second storey of Devine's home after ex-cyclone Debbie soaked northern NSW.
Furniture is upturned and gardens are in complete disarray at the house, which Devine had been turning into a massage, healing and wellness "sanctuary".
The road to Murwillumbah in the north is littered with washed away cars and debris from landslides. Towers of rubbish line Murwillumbah's streets. Water went to the ceiling of Cheyenne Walsh's floristry on the outskirts of town.
Devine is not insured and will close her business permanently.
"To be honest I actually haven't thought about it [what to do afterwards]," she told AAP.
"We'll just do the clean-up and see what we can save."
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