A helicopter has crashed in the town of Emerald as the town battles floods.
The chopper came down after six PM. The pilot, who survived the crash, was thought to be the sole occupant.
Meanwhile, the people of Emerald could awake on Friday to the highest flood levels in living memory.
Mayor Peter Maguire says it's hard to say just how much of the town has already been claimed by the dirty tide, but his best guess is about 25 per cent.
But it won't stop there.
The worst-case scenario suggests 80 per cent of the town and 8000 residents could be affected by the floods.
Flood levels are expected to peak on Friday at 16.2 metres, and on Thursday afternoon it was just a half a metre shy of that.
About 2500 residents are planning to evacuate, with road and rail access to the town cut, Emergency Management Queensland said on Thursday.
But Red Cross Queensland executive director Greg Goebel was more conservative.
He said about 500 residents were expected to bed down for the night in three evacuation centres, but there were provisions to accommodate up to 2000 people if needed.
"If worst comes to worst we'll probably look at flying people out of Emerald and moving them to mining camps," Mr Goebel told AAP.
Uncomfortable night
"I think tonight will be an uncomfortable night and we'll have to regroup tomorrow morning."
Mr Goebel said shops that were still open had imposed limits as residents stocked up on essential items.
The mood among Emerald residents was increasingly fraught, he said.
"At first the mood was fairly buoyant but now they've become extremely anxious."
The mayor said that even if a 16.2-metre peak eventuated, not all homes would go under.
"The message we're trying to get out to people is that this new flood peak won't necessarily mean every house will have water flowing through it, many will simply be surrounded by water and isolated," he said.
"We have 80 per cent of the area mapped as being in risk of having water on it but that doesn't always mean inundation ..."
He said surveyors had checked the hospital to determine if evacuations there were necessary along with an aged-care home in another part of town, but both looked to be safe.
The flood peak is expected to be reached about 8am (AEST) on Friday, Mr Maguire said.
"The worst-case scenario is that we could have 8000 people impacted in Emerald, and the peak will last a couple of days," he said.
Residents who do go to evacuation centres have been told to take their pets with them.
Premier Anna Bligh, who toured Emerald on Thursday, put flood damage to state roads alone at least $1.5 billion, and said the state was in the grip of an extraordinary event.
"As we look across Queensland and see the communities affected by the scale of the disaster, it's fair to say that Queensland is facing its toughest hour," she told reporters.
"But communities are rising to the challenge."
She said looting had been a problem during Emerald's 2008 floods, and police were taking no chances this time, with 20 extra officers deployed to protect property.
Black Hawk helicopters were also being used to ferry people to the airport to catch flights out.
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