A fifth person has died in southeast Queensland's worst floods in a decade, which have triggered the evacuation of hundreds of people and cut off towns and suburbs.
The entire region was awash on Saturday afternoon and being pummelled by multiple severe thunderstorms from a low-pressure trough which has been sitting over the state's southeast for five days.
The body of a 37-year-old Goomboorian man who went missing in floodwaters near Gympie on Friday night was found by police divers on Saturday, taking the state's death toll to five.
Gympie Council has started evacuating 700 people living along the swollen Mary River, which will rise above its highest level in 23 years in the next 24 hours.
Residents in impacted areas at Southside and on the hospital side of the river were urged to evacuate immediately and seek higher ground.
Flood sirens have been sounded in Grantham, west of Brisbane, on Saturday afternoon, urging residents in low-lying areas near the Lockyer River to get to higher ground.
The Lockyer Valley Council later encouraged residents to register with the Red Cross's service.
"Council is currently fielding calls from concerned family members, seeking to locate loved ones who may be staying in Places of Shelter, or who do not have access to their phones," a statement said.
"The community are advised this is not a test and should respond accordingly," the statement said..
"Residents should move to higher ground and relocate to family and friends as a matter of urgency."
A supplied image shows an aerial view of flooding in Gympie, Queensland, Saturday, February 26, 2022. Credit: Brett's Drone Photography via AAP
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Greg Leach described the 62-year-old's death as a "tragic loss".
"Merryl was a much-loved member of the Lowood SES Group where she volunteered more than 520 hours of her time over the last four-and-a-half years," he said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Mary River is set to rise above the 21.95m recorded during the 1999 floods.
She says emergency evacuation alerts will be issued for 700 Gympie residents, who are otherwise set to be isolated or trapped.
"People would understand that this is incredibly important at this stage," she told reporters on Saturday.
"Our concern is for your safety, and this is why this is happening."
She said three days of supplies will be delivered to the Indigenous community of Cherbourg, west of Gympie, which is set to be cut off.
Major flooding is occurring at Tewantin near Noosa, and Picnic Point and Dunethin Rock on the Sunshine Coast.
"This is something that is completely unpredictable, in terms of this big rain event occurring over the entirety of southeast Queensland," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"So please listen to alerts, everyone please stay calm."
Disaster payments
Meanwhile, disaster assistance has been activated for 10 council areas in Queensland's southeast.
The relief will be made available to cover the cost of clean-up efforts in the Fraser Coast, Gold Coast, Gympie, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Noosa, North Burnett, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba LGAs.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Bridget McKenzie says the support will be jointly funded under Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
"This rain event is still unfolding but we already know the severe flooding has sadly resulted in the loss of life and people being evacuated from their homes and businesses," she said on Saturday.
"For the second time in as many months, southeast Queensland finds itself at the centre of another unfolding emergency, with many roads and bridges in the region already submerged."
The flooded One Mile Bridge in Ipswich, Queensland, February 26, 2022. Source: AAP / Jono Searle/AAP
At Mt Glorious, northwest of the capital, 690mm landed between 9am Friday and 7am Saturday and 535mm was recorded at Pomona on the Sunshine Coast up to 6am.
Senator McKenzie says funding will also go to repairing roads and other damaged infrastructure in hard-hit regions.
"The Australian and Queensland governments will continue to monitor this developing flooding event and will work with all impacted communities to ensure they all have the appropriate level of support they need so they can get back on their feet as soon as possible," she said.
Mr Ryan says the disaster has re-inundated areas trying to recover after last month's flood event.
Floodwaters are seen in Murwillumbah in northern NSW, Friday, February 25, 2022. Source: AAP / JASON O'BRIEN/AAP
Several days of heavy falls where some areas received more precipitation in 24 hours than they usually would in all of February is expected to be followed by the arrival of the Queensland low.
Intense localised falls and thunderstorms are expected on Sunday and could cause flash flooding, the Bureau of Meteorology warns.
