SOUTHEAST Queenslanders need to rethink their Australia Day plans with ex-tropical cyclone Oswald expected to dampen celebrations, forecasters warn.
The Bureau of Meteorology says there's a fair chance any outdoor event planned for Saturday will be a washout.
Forecaster Andrew Cameron says the low-pressure centre currently overland between Cairns and Townsville is tracking south along the Queensland coast and will bring up 20 to 40mm of Australia Day rain in some districts.
"Certainly I'd recommend planning for the worst and preparing some sort of contingency," he told AAP.
Torrential rain generated by the ex-cyclone has lashed coastal north Queensland, causing rivers to break their banks and flood the towns of Ingham, Halifax and Tully, and some areas of Townsville.
Halifax, north of Townsville, is cut off and water has entered the main street.
Sandbags have protected businesses from being inundated so far, according to Hinchinbrook Mayor Mansell Bow.
Ingham, southwest of Halifax, has been cut in half by a swollen creek and water is running into yards and under houses but hasn't entered homes.
"We've all been receiving rain since Monday and people have been stocking their pantries with food so everyone was ready," Mr Bow told AAP.
Wildlife was on the move, with an Ingham policeman photographing a two-metre crocodile on the Bruce Highway near the Seymour River on Wednesday.
Floodwater at Tully is slowly receding and the road to Cairns has reopened, according to Cassowary Coast Regional Council's deputy mayor Bryce Macdonald, who travelled to work on Thursday by boat.
The mood in the town is good, he told AAP.
"It's a normal wet season up here for us. There's nothing unusual about it," he said.
"Last year wasn't very wet, so people are saying it's back to normal."
A miniature tornado reportedly swept through the township of Grasstree, near Hay Point, on the north Queensland coast about 4am (AEST) on Thursday.
Hay Point Hotel owner Dean Williams said there was some damage to roofs and trees, but no one was hurt.
Meanwhile, towns between Bowen and Gladstone are expecting heavy rain, with up to 300mm forecast in some areas over the next 24 hours.
Gladstone has already received 118mm in the past 24 hours which has caused local flooding and some roads to be closed.
The Bureau of Meteorology is watching Oswald closely and says there is a 50 per cent chance it will reform somewhere off the coast of Gladstone and Rockhampton on Saturday.
About 6000 homes in the Cairns region were without power on Thursday morning after fallen trees hit power lines.
Rail services between Mackay and Cairns have been closed because of localised flooding over tracks.
Oswald crossed the western coast of Cape York Peninsula near Kowanyama as a category one cyclone on Tuesday and is now a low-pressure system.
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