Residents in the central Queensland hub of Bundaberg are bracing for major flooding, triggering an emergency alert following days of downpours.
An evacuation centre has opened with major bridges expected to be cut off and about 180 properties threatened on Tuesday, evoking memories of a 2010 natural disaster.
The swollen Burnett River is set to peak at about 7.5 metres early on Wednesday, slightly below the levels seen 16 years earlier that inundated homes and forced hundreds to evacuate the city of more than 70,000 people.
"We're encouraging people to evacuate now if they're concerned, so that they're not waiting until the middle of the night," Bundaberg mayor Helen Blackburn told AAP.
A "prepare to leave" alert has been sent to locals, with the major Tallon and Burnett Bridges that connect the city set to be closed on Tuesday afternoon.
"We're making sure that we get the message out to everybody," Ms Blackburn said.
Bundaberg state MP Tom Smith said the bridge closures ensured locals needed to make a decision about where to stay the night.
An evacuation centre has been set up at the Bundaberg Recreational Precinct as locals welcomed predictions that flooding might not eclipse the 2010 peak, when river levels reached 7.9m.
Ms Blackburn noted the predicted level was "significantly lower" while expressing frustration with several people who already had to be rescued from their cars, including a child at nearby Bargara.
"It's really disappointing that people continue to think that they can get through," she said.
Flooding has also hit hard in the Northern Territory as more rain stalls clean-up efforts in cut-off Katherine, while Darwin residents face water restrictions.
Hundreds were evacuated when homes and businesses were swamped as the Katherine River exceeded major flood levels.
The federal and NT governments announced on Tuesday further disaster assistance funding for Katherine, where about 700 people have been housed in shelters.
Power was cut to around 1500 properties, now mostly restored, and residents have been told to boil water as a precaution.
Hundreds of residents from the inundated NT communities of Daly River, Palumpa, Beswick and Jilkminggan were evacuated over the weekend, mostly to Darwin, in a major airlift by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
The NT capital now faces the prospect of water restrictions after flooding shut down a pump station at the Darwin River Dam.
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