Police have praised the courageous efforts of an officer who entered crocodile-infested waters after a man drowned in monsoonal floods.
Dozens of roads remain closed and communities are isolated as floodwaters continue to rise in outback Queensland.
A man in his 70s was found dead in a submerged vehicle in the far northern town of Normanton on Tuesday.
Mount Isa District Acting Superintendent Paul Austin praised the efforts of emergency services who responded.
“The SES operator was able to align their vessel (with the submerged car), and one of the police officers entered into a significant depth, and was able to get into the vehicle and recover the deceased male,” he told AAP.
“If he hadn't done what he did, it certainly would have made it a very difficult operation to try and retrieve that vehicle with the deceased in it.
“There's some really big crocs in the Norman River ... what he did was very courageous.”
Queensland Premier David Crisfulli said Queenslanders were built tough, but the loss of the local man would impact the community.
"To experience a loss of life as a result of the flooding is a deep tragedy for the North West community," he said on Wednesday.
"Our big focus remains on infrastructure ... it's the roads, it's the bridges. We have to make sure that people remain connected."
McKinlay mayor Janene Fegan said it could be weeks before the full extent of the damage and stock losses is known.
After days of severe rain, conditions only cleared on Wednesday, allowing graziers to launch helicopters.
"We just don't know officially yet - it's just sitting and waiting but it doesn't look good in parts of the northwest of our shire," Cr Fegan told AAP.
"We've been told that the water level is quite high, and there's places that could be higher than 2019."
The Bureau of Meteorology warns isolated heavy falls of 100mm are possible in parts of the Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, North West and Central West districts.
The bureau's Miriam Bradbury said rain and thunderstorm activity would continue "but we should start to see more of an easing across more widespread areas late in the weekend into early next week".
Disaster relief has been activated for five north Queensland councils following widespread flooding caused by monsoonal rainfall over the Christmas period.
In Western Australia, emergency services are assessing the damage caused by ex-tropical cyclone Hayley, which crossed the Kimberley coast as a category three storm over the Dampier Peninsula on Tuesday.
Winds up to 158km/h were recorded along with 132mm of rain.
There were no reports of major damage or injuries but one building had lost its roof and a patio roof had been damaged, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said.
Nine people sought shelter in Broome, with many more seeking refuge with family and friends.
