Emergency workers are using boats, choppers and even tip-trucks to rescue residents from Townsville’s flooded suburbs.

The army, police and emergency crews helped more than 1100 people evacuate their homes on Sunday night.

Those efforts continued on Monday, with every available boat, helicopters and even tip-trucks brought in to carry people to safety.

Dangerous and unpredictable conditions, with the potential for more flash flooding, are expected to continue for at least the next 24 hours. Crocodiles have been spotted near suburban homes and the floodwater is teeming with snakes, creating a dangerous situation for rescuers as the crisis shows no sign of abating.

About 1000 people remain holed up in six evacuation centres as they wait to see what lies ahead.

Devastated for the people who have been effected but my city is STRONG! Townsville will fight back. pic.twitter.com/tsaiKWIleE

— Rod Anderson (@DJ_Rod) February 4, 2019

Authorities are monitoring rainfall at sites across Townsville every five minutes so they can issue alerts if there’s a new threat to public safety. So far, no lives have been lost.

“It’s very difficult for us to predict what’s going to happen over the next 24 hours,” Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill warned.

She tried to reassure rattled residents, saying: “We will protect you as much as we can.”

But she also expressed simmering frustration amid complaints from some residents that they were caught out by record water releases from the city’s swollen Ross River Dam.

“We doorknocked for three days. Some people were doorknocked twice. You can’t say you weren’t warned that something could happen,” she said.

“We’ve been looking at a worst case scenario for the last three days. What do you have to do to make people move?”

Acting Chief Superintendent Steve Munro said officers had had to put their lives on the line to attend to calls for help.

Two police officers were caught in the deluge as they helped to evacuate people in Hermit Park after the floodgates were fully opened.

Their vehicle was washed away and they were left clinging to trees for about half an hour before a swift-water rescue crew arrived.

Crews also rescued two people trapped on the roof of their car in nearby Hyde Park.

About 400 people were evacuated from the hard-hit suburb of Idalia on Sunday night. More were ferried to safety on Monday as helicopters supported the rescue effort.

“Anyone who is not on a second storey has water moving through their house,” Major Beau Hodge said.

An emotional Major Hodge said his own home was “gone” and he had to evacuate his family from Idalia on Sunday night, while also helping with the wider rescue effort. He couldn’t say how many people were still stuck in Idalia.

“I’m lucky my family are safe and well. We’ll be all right,” he said.

Authorities put 21 suburbs on alert for dangerous flash flooding on Sunday night as the flood gates on the Ross River Dam were opened to their maximum level.

That sent almost 2000 cubic metres of water a second over the dam’s spillway and down the Ross River, which snakes through Townsville.

More than 1000 calls for help had been logged by the State Emergency Service and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services in 24 hours, most of them in Townsville.

I couldn’t be more proud of our soldiers’ efforts out there with @QldPolice and QFES today. #courage #initiative stay strong @Townsville pic.twitter.com/eO2Jqzy0up

— Brigadier Dave McCammon (@3BrigadeTSV) February 2, 2019

The Townsville City Council estimates up to 2000 properties may have been affected by floodwaters, but there’s no way to be sure just yet.

The city was bracing for more rain on Monday with six-hourly falls of up to 200 millimetres likely, and isolated falls of up to 300 millimetres possible.

Water levels in the Ross River Dam were expected to peak at 11am on Monday (AEST) and remain at that level until at least midnight. The ABC reported water levels in the dam were slowly falling; it was at 230 per cent capacity at 10am on Monday, down from a peak of 244.8 per cent at 2am.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who on Sunday described the level of flooding in Townsville as “unprecedented”, convened a disaster management meeting in Townsville on Monday. Later, she held a media conference to warn people to stay off the roads.

“This monsoonal trough just doesn’t want to seem to move much at all,” she said.

“There’s going to be heavy rainfall over the next couple of days. There will also be damaging wind gusts and intense rainfall with significant flash flooding. So, once again, our message is if you don’t need to be out on the roads, please don’t.”

Schools were expected to remain closed on Tuesday and there were flood warnings for the Cloncurry, Haughton and Burdekin rivers and the Ross River dam.

Townsville Airport reopened on Monday afternoon after being abruptly closed on Sunday night. Travellers were advised, however, to check with airlines as many flights remained cancelled.

-with agencies