WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Monsoon rains unleashed flooding in Australia’s Queensland that have claimed the lives of two people as the week-long deluge dropped months of rainfall in a few days, devastating small rural towns on the state’s north coast.

Flood waters are rising in the Australian state of Queensland after heavy rainfall. The area between Townsville and Cairns in the north-east is particularly badly affected - a region that is also very popular with tourists.

A second woman is confirmed to have died in flooding which has inflicted "incredible" devastation on communities in northern Australia. Police said the 82-year-old woman's body was found in a cane paddock in Queensland on Tuesday,

Deadly floodwaters triggered by record rainfall in Australia’s northeast rose for a third day Monday as authorities warned flood-stricken communities to brace themselves for further destruction.

Fast-moving floodwaters rose Monday in northeastern Australia after forcing many to flee, blacking out homes, and sweeping away a chunk of a critical bridge.

Flooding in Australia has inflicted "incredible" devastation on communities across northern Queensland, the state's premier has said, even though conditions are easing faster than predicted. Thousands of residents who evacuated from their homes are set to return on Tuesday but it is feared hundreds of properties and businesses have been inundated.

Record-breaking floods across north Queensland have now turned deadly, with one woman drowning while being rescued on Sunday morning. And the floodwaters are still rising, with rain set to continue.