Ex-tropical cyclone Owen has swept out to sea leaving a trail of crop destruction in north Queensland, with a "beautiful, kind and wonderful" young man drowned in rapids created by the deluge.
The first cyclone of the season dumped record amounts of rain in parts of the north, creating rapids that swept Dane Bracey, 18, to his death after he jumped into Big Crystal Creek on Sunday.
Tributes flowed on social media for the teen, whose devastated parents wrote a moving last note after he was pulled from the flood affected creek in Mutarnee, north of Townsville.
"Today a part of my soul and all of my heart has broken into a thousand pieces, I don't know how I'm going to get thru (sic) this," Gail and Darren Bracey posted.
Further south on Sunday a four-year-old-boy was pulled from floodwaters on the Gold Coast and revived after he and his dad fell from a kayak into the Coomera River at Illinbah.
The Bureau of Meteorology says Halifax, inland of Ingham, was hardest hit on the weekend, recording 680mm of rain in just 24 hours.
That's almost five times the December average for the region, and decimates the previous record of around 470mm in 1991.
Local farmers say cane fields are underwater and at risk of being destroyed.
Inspector Damien Irvine of the Queensland Police says danger doesn't just come from the fast flowing water, which continues and can wash cars downstream.
It also comes from the crocodiles, snakes and bull sharks in the flood waters.
He said a three-metre crocodile was spotted by officers when they were rescuing a woman whose car had stalled while crossing a flooded causeway.
The rain and floods are still causing issues for motorists and authorities are pleading with drivers not to try and cross flooded waterways.
A woman driving with her five-year-old son called for help as floodwaters rose in Halifax on Saturday night.
Two men on the Darling Downs were rescued from their utes on the weekend.
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