The south-east Queensland flooding crisis has claimed yet another life, bringing the death toll to eight.
A 50-year-old man and his dog have died after the car they were travelling in became submerged in floodwaters in Currumbin Valley near the Gold Coast.
Police say the man drove his car into floodwaters around 3am before it was washed away and later discovered by Gold Coast surf life savers.
LIVE COVERAGE: Flood emergency gripping Queensland and northern NSW
The state is in the grips of a major flooding emergency, with thousands of schools closed, homes underwater and without power and houseboats seen ripped from their moorings.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this morning said there were 1544 people in evacuation centres across the south-east as floodwaters continue to rise.
More than 1000 schools are now closed and more than 18,000 homes have been impacted.
"The QFES alone had 2200 requests for assistance overnight," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"And 113 water rescues around Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Beenleigh.
"We have around 51,000 people without power. As you can see by this, this is a really big event, and the event is not over," she added.
"In Gympie, we have about 3600 homes that have been impacted.
"In Brisbane, we're estimating there could be up to 15,000 houses that are impacted and as I said, we are going to be monitoring very closely what happens during the rest of the day."
Good news for missing Goodna man
Missing man Cameron Rogers has been found safe and sound after his family reported him missing from Goodna last night.
Mr Rogers parked his car at the railway station and went to meet a friend after helping his fiancée and child leave their flooded Goodna home, but never arrived.
Police today confirmed Mr Rogers was found "safe and well".
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A seventh man was killed in floodwaters yesterday, on Cabbage Tree Creek Road when he was swept away on foot by floodwaters.
"Two members of the public raised the alarm, calling police and emergency services and went to the man's aid, conducting CPR," police said.
"Despite the best efforts of attending paramedics, the man died at the scene."
Police said they hold concerns for several people believed missing in floodwaters in the state's south-east.
"There was reports of a missing vehicle swept into floodwaters at Yatala this morning that we are currently investigating," Commissioner Katarina Carroll said.
"As I came in, (there was) a report of a missing person also near Esk, and as you would recall some two days ago a male person had fallen from a vessel in the Brisbane River that we are also following up on."
Debris scattered as damage revealed
In Brisbane, residents have taken their own kayaks out to assess the damage being done to their properties.
The Brisbane River is expected to peak at four metres later this morning.
This is slightly below the peak of 4.46 metres recorded in 2011.
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Swirling floodwaters is causing debris to build-up along the banks of the Brisbane River.
Items from emergency beacons, buoys, to pylons and boats have been photographed flung along the shoreline.
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Witnesses told Today the river is audibly "roaring" like an ocean.
A helicopter has captured the extent of the devastation, with brown water extending as far as the eye can see.
The waters have torn a large houseboat from its moorings.
The barge is being swept down the river towards the Goodwill Bridge.
Steve Jackson, owner of the houseboat, tearfully spoke to Today, explaining the boat has been his home for seven years.
"It's been a couple of bad days," Mr Jackson said.
"I got rescued by the Water Police yesterday morning because I couldn't stay on the boat any longer.
"I thought it would hang on through the whole thing. Unfortunately it let go this morning.
"My home… My kids have lived with me 50 per cent on and off there as well. It's got a lot of memories and a lot of stuff in there.
"I only managed to get out passport and keys and important stuff before I managed to bail-out yesterday with the dog on the police boat.
"It's very sad, mate."
Intense weather continues to lash state
Millions of Queenslanders have been told to stay home today, as intense weather continues to lash the state.
More than 900 schools have been closed for the start of the week and people are being asked to work from home amid fresh flood warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) last night.
With rain now easing in Brisbane, focus is now shifting to rivers and creeks, with multiple on flood watch.
READ MORE: Gympie smashed by largest flood in more than a century
Just before midnight, a severe thunderstorm warning was also issued for the south-east Queensland region, for "intense rainfall that may lead to dangerous & life-threatening flash flooding".
Areas impacted include Logan, Sunnybank Hills and Beenleigh.
This comes in addition to earlier warnings for parts of the Gold Coast, Redland City and Brisbane City Council areas.
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The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned intense rainfall is likely on the southern Gold Coast, and over the border, for the next few hours.
"106mm in the last 2 hours at Tallebudgera Valley," it said.
Wind gusts could exceed 90km/h in some parts, the BoM warns, especially in coastal areas.
Forecast for more rain and 'life-threatening flash flooding'
The hazardous conditions are being brought about by a low pressure system currently centred near Brisbane.
A man managed to escape uninjured after a house boat swept away by currents in the Brisbane River collided with a ferry terminal at Kangaroo Point yesterday morning.
READ MORE: Today helps flood-stranded family stuck on roof get help
"Police tracked the man in the fast-moving water for approximately 500m before reaching the ferry terminal at Howard Smith Wharves," police said.
"Water and onshore police observed members of the public being able to pull the man from the water and onto the terminal."
The BoM has upgraded its flood warnings to "major" for the lower Brisbane River around the central business district and the Logan and Albert rivers, following continued rain throughout Sunday.
"With these conditions, multiple homes may be inundated by water, bridges and traffic routes are likely to be cut and significant overland flooding is expected," it said.
The Brisbane River also reached major flood levels of 3.50m on the high tide yesterday, falling to 3.35m with the tide.
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More than 400mm of rainfall was recorded in the Brisbane area yesterday.
This has contributed to Wivenhoe Dam utilising flood storage compartment as it currently sits at 183.7 per cent above capacity, according to Seqwater.
This comes despite staged releases of water, which began on Friday night, with the first of these expected to reach Brisbane today.
Queensland residents are also being asked to conserve drinking water, with treatment plant impacted by the weather event.
Brisbane Airport remains open but localised flooding has blocked some point access to and from the airport, with flooding also resulting in the closure of the Skygate and DFO precincts.
https://twitter.com/BrisbaneAirport/status/1497885460391071744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Further north, the Bruce Highway remains closed between Caloundra and Caboolture.
System likened to 'an unpredictable cyclone'
Ms Palaszczuk yesterday likened the system smashing the state's south-east to "an unpredictable cyclone" and urged caution.
"No one expected this rain bomb to be sitting over the south-east of our state for such a long period of time," she said.
"This is like an unpredictable cyclone and it is levels that we never expected or could never have been forecast."
She today said the weather system shared similarities to Cyclone Debbie in 2017.
"If everyone can remember, ex-tropical cyclone Debbie went across the coast around Airlie Beach came to the south-east, then went into northern NSW and ended up in New Zealand," she said.
"And what we're seeing with this system at the moment is pushing further south, down into Logan, the Albert, the Gold Coast, and now we're seeing some of the tragedies unfolding down in northern NSW."
While the "rain bomb" is expected to move south into NSW today, floodwaters are expected to linger for the following three-to-five days.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Federal Government had activated disaster recovery payments of $1000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child to support those impacted.
The payments will be available for people in the local government areas of Gympie and North Burnett from today, but are expected to be made more widely available as other areas are declared disaster zones.
The Australian Defence Force said personnel will continue to support the emergency response efforts and will do more once the water recedes and the recovery effort starts.