There are fears the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie will have killed people in major flooding overnight, as 25,000 are ordered to evacuate in NSW and 91,000 Queenslanders remain without power.

Homes and businesses are going underwater in Lismore as floodwaters continue to rise even at low-tide, with up to three metres of water expected.

Sirens have sounded in the northern NSW town as residents are warned to head to higher ground and get on their roof if necessary after floodwater topped the levee, ABC reports.

NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Mark Morrow said some of the people who called for help overnight couldn't be reached, with 'distressing news' possibly to come.

'There could be people overnight that perished in that flood, we don't know at this stage,' he told ABC television on Friday.

'We expect this morning that as we start to go out and try to find people that made those calls overnight, there could be some very distressing news.'

Mr Morrow said metres of water would likely flood businesses and homes and the levels could exceed those seen during events in the city in 2001 and 2005.

'What that means to people listening this morning is that most of the businesses in the Lismore CBD will have up to three metres of water over the floor,' he said.

'That's up to about roof level in their house or even higher. A lot of people that are going to be displaced from their businesses or their homes.'

Residents in the flood zone caused by ex-tropical cyclone Debbie have spent the night holed up in evacuation centres, as the system tracked south past Brisbane and into northern NSW.

'About 130 flood rescues, people in cars, people trapped on roofs of houses. We'll get out there as soon as we can in daylight with aerial assets as well, helicopters and we'll try and find those people that made calls to us last night and help them this morning.'

He said about 6,000 people had left their homes.

River levels in some threatened communities were continuing to rise, even on a low tide, when they should be starting to drop.

'In some places further to the north, like Chinderah up around Tweed Heads where the water should be falling on a low tide now it's actually increasing. That's not a good sign for today.'

The wind is expected to pick up on Friday, compounding the dangers.

'We'll start to see trees coming down, potentially powerlines,' Mr Morrow said.

'That's the back-end associated with that cyclone in Queensland.

'We're far from out of this and I think the recovery efforts that are going to have to occur are going to be significant.'

He said 13 evacuation orders remained current, affecting about 25,000 people.

Authorities have lamented those ignoring advice and driving through floodwaters.

SES spokesman Brent Hunter those people were 'playing Russian roulette with their lives', Daily Telegraph reported.

Closer to the Queensland border, residents in 500 homes in the South Murwillumbah, Condong and Tumbulgum areas were also ordered to evacuate, with the Tweed River experiencing major flooding.

People in Tweed Heads South and West, Chinderah, Kingscliff, Fingal Head and Bilambil were told to leave too.

Meanwhile, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Mike Wassing said the state's flood emergency wasn't over, particularly for communities on the NSW border.

'Our greatest area of concern this morning for people living in the areas of Beenleigh, Waterford, Woodend and Beaudesert,' he told ABC television.

'We currently got major flood warnings for the Albert River and the Logan River.'

He described the situation as 'very serious'.

'It is very serious, it's a major flood warning. If you're in low-lying areas, safely move to high grounds.'

Swift water rescue firefighters had saved the lives of 85 people trapped in floodwaters.

Mr Wassing confirmed there had been 'a number of rescues and continue to have as we speak'.

At 1am Friday, Queensland police urged residents of Beaudesert to warn neighbours, secure belongings and move to higher ground as the Logan River rose.

Nine News reported some in Beaudesert had to seek refuge on the roof of their cars as the waters rose.

Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutshke told Daily Mail Australia Lismore and other areas have been hit with the most rain since the floods of 1974.

There is very little rain expected to come but emergency services are warning the danger is not over.

Destructive winds and damaging surf will continue for the rest of Friday in Queensland and northern NSW.

The southeast Queensland town of Beaudesert has been hit by record flooding as bad weather from ex-cyclone Debbie continues to batter Australia's east coast.

The Scenic Rim Council issued an emergency warning to residents in flood-prone areas overnight to move to higher ground as the Logan River continued to rise, though there is no evacuation alert in place.

The Logan River at Beaudesert was at 13.91 metres early Friday morning, equivalent to the level seen in the town's record 1991 flood and the river is not expected to peak until 7am (AEST).

Nine has reported a group of people were forced to seek refuge on the roof of their car after trying to escape floodwaters in the area overnight.

Southeast Queensland has been battered by heavy rain and flash-flooding as the remnants of cyclone Debbie moved through the region on Thursday.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Mike Wassing said the situation remained very serious for communities near the NSW border.

'Our greatest area of concern this morning for people living in the areas of Beenleigh, Waterford, Woodend and Beaudesert,' he told ABC television.

'It is very serious, it's a major flood warning. If you're in low-lying areas, safely move to high grounds.'

Swift water rescue firefighters had saved the lives of 85 people trapped in floodwaters since Thursday.

The situation is even worse in northern NSW where authorities fear people may have died in Lismore as heavy flooding besieged the city overnight.

NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Mark Morrow said there were 130 flood rescues overnight and some people who called for help couldn't be reached and dawn could bring 'distressing news'.

Many Queensland and northern NSW schools remain closed on Friday.

The first guests have been evacuated from the Whitsunday islands resorts smashed by Cyclone Debbie but thousands remain stranded on Hamilton Island.

Daydream Island is expected to be closed for a month as further assessments of the extensive damage continue.

All guests and more than 100 staff have been evacuated from Daydream after the category four storm belted the region but many more remain stuck at other resorts.

The 3,000 people stranded on nearby Hamilton Island, which was lashed with the strongest recorded winds on Thursday at 263 km/h, face a longer wait to reach the mainland.

Twelve flights have been scheduled between Hamilton Island and Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Checking in could take up to 25 minutes per passenger, a statement on the Hamilton Island website said.

'We have been advised airlines will be bringing up large volumes of staff to assist with this process,' the statement said.

The defence force delivered food, fuel and water to Daydream Island earlier on Thursday, while local ferries were organised to shuttle guests back to the mainland.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten visited Bowen on Thursday morning, making financial aid available immediately to the Whitsunday council to start rebuilding infrastructure.

A emergency services source told AAP South Molle Island, to the northwest of Hamilton Island, had been 'totally devastated' but no one was there when Debbie struck.

Nearby Hayman Island has also suffered significant damage preventing emergency services personnel landing on Wednesday.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Two rivers burst their banks as the tail end of ex-Cyclone Debbie saw water levels surge

The entire town of Edgecumbe on New Zealand's North Island has been evacuated, after severe flooding.

About 600 homes and 2,000 people are affected, as tractors and boats helped take locals to safety.

The rain, caused by the remnants of Cyclone Debbie, which hit Australia a week ago, has caused a river to burst its banks.

The mayor has described the extreme weather as a once-in-500-years event.

Heavy rains also flooded roads in Wellington, the capital, and went on to soak New Zealand's South Island.

In Edgecumbe the water is said to be as high as 2m (6.5ft) in some areas. Police have erected barriers to prevent residents from returning.

Police are searching for one man believed missing in floodwaters near the swollen Waikato river.

They have denied social media reports of looting but say they will patrol the area anyway, after locals raised concerns.

While the evacuation of Edgecumbe is largely complete, the emergency services are still evacuating dozens of residents from the nearby Whakatane suburb.

Saving Edgecumbe on the back of a truck

Image copyright @NZDefenceForce Image caption The military have been involved in evacuating people

Image copyright @NZDefenceForce Image caption Residents have been warned not to return to their homes until the waters have subsided

Parts of the Bay of Plenty area received up to 250mm of rain in the last 36 hours, the New Zealand Herald reported.

"We had to evacuate, (the) house is totally flooded now. We're not sure how bad it's going to get," one resident told Reuters news agency.

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett told reporters that the authorities' message to affected residents was: "Get out and stay out."

Image copyright Reuters Image caption A month's worth of rain fell in less than a day, on some areas of the North Island

Kaikoura, the town cut off from the outside world by an earthquake in November, was once again isolated as landslides blocked roads.

Rainfall has eased across most of New Zealand's North Island. But former Cyclone Debbie is still having an impact in Australia, where severe flooding hit the town of Rockhampton, inundating hundreds of homes.

The category four cyclone has left at least six people dead.</s>A landslide caused by rains from Cyclone Debbie is shoveled off the main road between Napier and Taupo on New Zealand's North Island, April 5, 2017. SNPA/Sarah Lord/via New Zealand Defence Force personnel load sandbags as they prepare for floodwaters in the wake of Cyclone Debbie in Whanganui, New Zealand, April 5, 2017.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters.</s>Rescue workers have used tractors and boats to evacuate thousands of people at the top of New Zealand's North Island on Thursday as flood waters from ex-Cyclone Debbie surged in what meteorologists said was a once-in-500 year event.

The effects of the former category 4 storm, one level shy of the most powerful category 5, were also still being felt in Australia more than a week after the cyclone pounded Queensland with the town of Rockhampton flooded.

Scores of roads were closed or blocked by landslips across New Zealand's North Island following two days of heavy rainfall caused by the tailwind of Cyclone Debbie.

The storm killed six people in Australia, smashed tourist resorts, brought down power lines and shut coal mines.

No deaths have been reported in New Zealand, but authorities continued to search for a man reported missing in a swollen river.

'There's still a risk of loss of life,' New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett told reporters in Wellington as rescue workers raced to evacuate the town of Edgecumbe in the Bay of Plenty.

'Under no circumstances should people be looking at going back at the moment,' she said.

'The message must be really clear to people right now: Get out and stay out.'

New Zealand's mountainous terrain makes its roads susceptible to landslides and many regions are still recovering from November's 7.8-magnitude quake.

Kaikoura, the coastal holiday town at the epicenter of that quake, was shut off from the rest of the country for the second time in six months as connecting roads were again hit by landslips.

In Australia, where the deluge was still flowing through tropical river systems, water levels peaked in the city of Rockhampton at lunchtime on Thursday, flooding main streets, shops and homes.

Residents rowed boats along main roads and muddy water covered the airport's runway. Authorities said the airport will be closed for six days and the water is not expected to recede until the weekend.

The Australian disaster zone stretched 1,000 km (600 miles) from Queensland's tropical resort islands and Gold Coast tourist strip to the farmlands of New South Wales state.

Australian insurers have declared the event a catastrophe likely to cost more than one billion dollars, with state officials saying recovery and repairs will take months.

'The flooding has been worse than we anticipated,' Peter Harmer, the chief executive of Australia's largest insurer IAG said at a business conference in Sydney on Thursday.

'The cyclone impact itself was less than anticipated.'

Harmer said IAG was using drones to compile early assessments of the damage which he expected to total 'in excess of A$1 billion.'</s>The entire town of Edgecumbe on New Zealand's North Island has been evacuated, after severe flooding.

About 600 homes and 2,000 people are affected, as tractors and boats helped take locals to safety.

The rain, caused by the remnants of Cyclone Debbie, which hit Australia a week ago, has caused a river to burst its banks.

The mayor has described the extreme weather as a once-in-500-years event.

Heavy rains also flooded roads in Wellington, the capital, and went on to soak New Zealand's South Island.

In Edgecumbe the water is said to be as high as 2m (6.5ft) in some areas. Police have erected barriers to prevent residents from returning.

Police are searching for one man believed missing in floodwaters near the swollen Waikato river.

They have denied social media reports of looting but say they will patrol the area anyway, after locals raised concerns.

While the evacuation of Edgecumbe is largely complete, the emergency services are still evacuating dozens of residents from the nearby Whakatane suburb.

Saving Edgecumbe on the back of a truck

Parts of the Bay of Plenty area received up to 250mm of rain in the last 36 hours, the New Zealand Herald reported.

"We had to evacuate, (the) house is totally flooded now. We're not sure how bad it's going to get," one resident told Reuters news agency.

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett told reporters that the authorities' message to affected residents was: "Get out and stay out."

Kaikoura, the town cut off from the outside world by an earthquake in November, was once again isolated as landslides blocked roads.

Rainfall has eased across most of New Zealand's North Island. But former Cyclone Debbie is still having an impact in Australia, where severe flooding hit the town of Rockhampton, inundating hundreds of homes.

The category four cyclone has left at least six people dead.

Are you in the area affected by the flooding? Have you been hit by the extreme weather in New Zealand or Australia? Let us know. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

·Send an SMS or MMS to +44 7624 800 100</s>People used jet boats and tractors to help rescue about 2,000 residents of a New Zealand town after a river burst through a concrete levee on Thursday, flooding hundreds of homes and businesses.

Local authorities declared a state of emergency after the levee failed in the town of Edgecumbe on the North Island.

New Zealand has been drenched in recent days by the remnants of Cyclone Debbie, which flooded parts of Australia's east coast last week.</s>INTERNATIONAL NEWS - The entire town of Edgecumbe on New Zealand's North Island has been evacuated, after severe flooding.

About 600 homes and 2,000 people are affected, as tractors and boats helped take locals to safety.

The rain, caused by the remnants of Cyclone Debbie, which hit Australia a week ago, has caused a river to burst its banks.

The mayor has described the extreme weather as a once-in-500-years event.

In Edgecumbe the water is said to be as high as 2m (6.5ft) in some areas. Police have erected barriers to prevent residents from returning.

Heavy rains also flooded roads in Wellington, the capital, and went on to soak New Zealand's South Island.</s>Thousands of people at the top of New Zealand's North Island were told to evacuate on Thursday while an Australian town is forecast to be underwater later in the day as the tail end of Cyclone Debbie continues to cause major flooding.

The effects of the Category 4 storm, one level shy of the most powerful Category 5, are still being felt in both countries more than a week after it pounded Australia's Queensland state, killing six people, smashing tourist resorts, bringing down power lines and shutting down coal mines.

Scores of roads were closed or blocked by landslips across New Zealand's North Island following two days of heavy rainfall, although some areas had been given a reprieve from expected flash flooding. The international airport in the capital of Wellington was reopened on Thursday morning after the severe weather brought down air traffic systems late on Wednesday.</s>Floods and landslips blocked roads and closed schools across New Zealand's north island on Wednesday after it was swept overnight by the tail-end of powerful Cyclone Debbie, which left a trail of destruction in Australia.In Auckland, the north island's biggest city, a cliff collapsed on to an apartment block and more than 1000 homes were without power. A state of emergency was declared in two other districts - Whanganui and Rangitikei - as river levels rose amid record rainfall.No fatalities have been reported but police were investigating reports a person was missing on the Waikato River on Wednesday afternoon.Floods forced the closure of several country roads and highways throughout the north island, including Auckland. Schools remained closed on Wednesday in Whanganui and Rangitikei, and in Clevedon and Brookby in rural Auckland. Some train and ferry services were replaced by buses due to landslides and flooding.Authorities warned that a lull in the rains early on Wednesday would not last. A renewed downpour over the next 24 hours brings the risk of flash flooding in areas still recovering from a devastating earthquake in November."Our ground saturation levels are very high which means our water table is elevated, therefore isolated flooding is highly likely," Civil Defence Controller Garry Towler said in an emergency statement.The country's weather bureau, the MetService, said there was a risk of severe thunderstorms or severe convection over the north of the country, bringing a continued risk of localised downpours of 25 to 45 millimetres per hour."Rainfall of this intensity can cause flash flooding, especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips. Driving conditions will also be hazardous with surface flooding and poor visibility in heavy rain."These severe thunderstorms or severe convection also have the potential to bring strong wind gusts exceeding 110kmh, as well as the possibility of a small tornado."New Zealand's mountainous terrain makes its roads susceptible to landslides and many regions are still recovering from November's 7.8-magnitude quake. Two cities were on alert for mandatory evacuation later on Wednesday.Cyclone Debbie, a category four storm, one short of the most powerful level five, pounded Australia's Queensland state last week, smashing tourist resorts, bringing down power lines and shutting down coal mines. Six people have died since it hit.Reuters, Stuff.co.nz</s>Aerial footage shows severe flooding in the New Zealand town of Edgecumbe in the North Island on Thursday, after the tail-end of ex-cyclone Debbie brought two days of heavy rain and burst river banks. Thousands of people have been evacuated and states of emergency have been declared in numerous regions of the North Island
• New Zealand towns hit by ‘once in 500-year flood’ as storm system sweeps in
Severe flooding caused by Cyclone Debbie forces the evacuation of Edgecumbe, New Zealand, and nearby areas.