A man has died in floodwaters in Queensland's far north as residents on the other side of the country brace against a major cyclone.
Police were called to the man's submerged vehicle in the northern Queensland town of Normanton at about 3pm on Tuesday.
The man, aged in his 70s, was found dead inside his car.
In Western Australia, Tropical Cyclone Hayley crossed the coast of the Dampier Peninsula on Tuesday evening as a category 3 system.
"The destructive to very destructive core is currently impacting communities over the northern Dampier Peninsula," the Bureau of Meteorology said in an alert at 5pm AWST.
It comes on the heels of Tropical Cyclone Fina, a category three system that hit Darwin in late November.
Damaging winds of up to 170km/h are possible in the northern Dampier Peninsula, while a heavy rainfall warning has been issued, with the potential for flash flooding across parts of the region.
Heavy rainfall may extend further inland through to the central Kimberley on Wednesday.
An evacuation centre was open at the Broome Recreation and Aquatic Centre for those in the warning area.
Monsoon deluge drowns Queensland
Meanwhile, disaster relief has been activated for five north Queensland councils following widespread flooding caused by monsoonal rainfall over the Christmas period.
Carpentaria, Cloncurry, Flinders, McKinlay and Richmond Shire councils have all been approved for financial assistance by the joint Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements scheme.
The extra funding will support local councils' response, clean-up and recovery, including emergency roadworks and repairs to public assets.
The disaster relief comes as heavy rainfall, life-threatening flash flooding and widespread riverine flooding continue across Far North Queensland, with 37 roads cut.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli urged those affected and anyone travelling to use the government's disaster dashboard page for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
"Google Maps doesn't know where the local impacts are, they're headquartered a long, long way away," he said.
Crisafulli said the Bruce Highway had reopened after being briefly cut by the Seymour River between Ingham and Tully, but would likely be closed again if heavy rainfall persisted, given the tidal nature of the river.
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