A second person has died in floodwaters in Ingham following a three-day Queensland downpour that saw rainfall totals exceed 1000mm.

The body of an 82-year-old woman was found at a cane paddock on Fulton Drive in Bemerside, near Ingham, this morning.

She was last seen by a neighbour inside a two-storey house about 6pm yesterday.

The neighbour grew concerned when the woman was unable to be found inside the home today and found her body after the floodwaters had receded.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner. 

It comes two days after the death of a 63-year-old woman in Ingham.

She had been one of the residents on board a Queensland SES boat which struck a tree and flipped in floodwaters at Rutledge Street.

Six people, including volunteers and members of the public, were on board.

All were rescued except for the woman, who was found dead nearby. 

Residents band together as floodwaters cut off power, roads

Ingham residents have banded together to ration food and make do after the recent wet weather system left the town flooded, without power and completely cut off by road.

Although the worst of the severe weather has now passed, most homes are at least partially submerged, with residents who evacuated still unable to return.

Those who chose to remain in their homes are now living off the generosity of neighbours, moving around in tinnies, sharing groceries and mobile phones.

“The people here are very resilient people and they’re bloody good people,” Ingham local Frederick James said.

Robert, whose house is underwater, has brought together a crew of residents to use their boats to help their neighbours.

“I had all the stuff, most of the stuff, upstairs. We’ve lost a bit of things but, you know, as long as everyone’s safe,” he said.

The hardest hit areas are between Cardwell and Yabulu, while Townsville was spared the worst of the intense rain. 

Workers are assessing the damage at a substation that has been offline for several days, cutting power to 7000 people.

In hot and humid weather, and with a massive clean-up ahead, getting the power back on to homes is of the utmost priority, Premier David Crisafulli said today.

He said the flooding in the area, his hometown, was the worst since 1967.

“The river has started to drop and with it is the realisation of how significant this event has been,” Crisafulli said.

”The devastation is quite frankly incredible.”

The Defence Force is dropping supplies and generators into the region by helicopter, he said, and emergency service personnel from other staff will begin to arrive in the next few days to assist with the recovery.

“You are a very resilient people, but resilience doesn’t mean you should be left on your own,” Crisafulli said.

”I want people in this community to know that we will keep coming back until the job is done.”

He said fixing damage on the crucial Bruce Highway was a “top priority”, but it could take some time.

State Disaster Coordinator Shane Chelepy said he expects recovery efforts to take more than three weeks. 

Flood-stricken residents have also reported an increase in crocodiles, which have been washed from their habitats by fierce floodwaters.

Worst of the severe weather is over

Major flood warnings remain in place for the Herbert and Haughton rivers.

While the Bureau of Meteorology says the immediate threat of severe weather has passed, isolated heavy rainfall is still possible over the next few days.

“While rich moisture and some instability will remain in place over the area, a gradual weakening of the low and monsoon flow has seen rainfall ease below severe thresholds,” it said in an update this morning.

The only way for 9News reporters to see the devastation first-hand was to be flown in and then board a boat.

9News Queensland weather presenter Garry Youngberry reported from Tully, north of Yermo, this morning and said the rain has extended 1000km west to the regional inland city of Mount Isa.

Despite the rain gradually easing, he said the poor weather was far from over.

“There is still a chance we could see anywhere between 300mm and 500mm over the next six or seven days,” he said.