River creeps closer to top of levees

Officials are keeping a close watch on flood levees protecting a town bordering Queensland and New South Wales as water levels creep closer to their 11 metre limit.

The 6000 residents of Goondiwindi will be waking this morning to see if the levees along the MacIntyre River have kept floodwaters at bay.

In the last hour the river has climbed only 1cm, measuring 10.61m at 4am (7am NZT), the Goondiwindi Regional Council said.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a flood warning for the area, with flood levels at Goondiwindi already above the record 1996 flood peak level of 10.6 metres this morning.

"Based on rises observed at New Kildonan in the past few hours, a record flood level higher than 10.85 metres is likely this morning at Goondiwindi," the warning read.

Bureau of Metereology hydrologist Jess Carey said water levels at New Kildonan had stayed around 13.4m, but he was not yet sure if the river had peaked.

He said the flood waters at Goondiwindi would reach record heights.

"We haven't seen a flood of this magnitude in Goondiwindi," he told ABC Radio.

The bureau will be issuing warnings for the town every four hours.

"We are forecasting it will be very close to the levee."

Mr Carey understood the levee was well maintained.

"We are confident the integrity of the levee is good."

Goondiwindi Mayor Graeme Scheu told ABC Radio the flooding, which he described as "the strangest flooding I have seen in my life, could be destructive to the region, particularly to flood plains to the west of the town where many residents live.

In Boggabilla, where most residents have evacuated, the MacIntyre River was at 12.3m, Mr Carey told ABC Radio. It is forecast to peak at 12.8m later this morning.

Body count continues to rise

The water is starting to recede in Queensland but the body count continues to rise in the devastated Lockyer Valley region where dozens of people remain missing.

Last night, 15 people were confirmed dead in this week's floods, and 61 people were unaccounted for - most of them from the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, the area hit hardest.

The Herald has been told funeral directors already have more bodies than the 15 officially listed as dead, and there are fears the final toll will be much higher.

Fuelling those fears was the sudden increased presence yesterday of police, divers and more than 100 soldiers in the small town of Grantham.

Police sources and Grantham residents fear the death toll could exceed 40.

- NZHERALD STAFF