Food drops are being planned for Queensland's inland town of Emerald amid unprecedented flooding.
More than 1000 residents have been evacuated as a dirty tide inundates about 80 per cent of the town.
Central Highlands Mayor Peter Maguire said water levels had peaked in most parts of the community but were still rising on the north side of town.
He said it would be Saturday before waters started to recede, and the town faces the prospect of food shortages, blackouts, and sewage contaminating flood waters.
"We could get sewage coming up in some areas that are inundated," he told AAP on Friday, warning people to stay out of the water.
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"And, for safety reasons, we're going to have to turn off power in areas that have underground power cables, and other areas will probably have blackout problems too."
The Nogoa River peaked at 16 metres on Thursday night but, Mr Maguire said, rises of 200mm were expected on the north side of Emerald until late on Friday night.
"We've got 5.6 metres of water coming over Fairbairn Dam and the dam itself is at 175 per cent capacity," he said, well beyond the 4.4 metres that went over the spillway during the 2008 flood.
Mr Maguire said three evacuation centres had been set up in the town, and about 1300 people had registered at those centres but many were staying with family and friends on higher ground.
Earlier on Friday, Premier Anna Bligh said more than 1200 people had been evacuated from their homes in the last 24 hours.
The mayor said there were only about 250 people in the centres at 8am (AEST) on Friday.
"We should be able to get inspectors in to have a look at the rail bridge by Sunday but the Vince Lester Bridge isn't expected to be clear of water until Tuesday. But it'll need to be repaired and inspected before we can let traffic go across it again," he said.
"Theresa Creek at the Gregory Highway is currently 9.2 metres and falling, and water is expected to fall below the bridge deck later today. But, that'll have to be inspected too before it can be opened to traffic."
Mr Maguire said the local disaster management group was arranging food supplies for evacuation centres and isolated properties.
