More than 70 students and staff were stuck at Echo Creek adventure park since Monday

A group of schoolchildren and their teachers have been evacuated six days after becoming stranded by floodwater at a campsite in north Queensland.

More than 70 students and staff had been trapped at the Echo Creek adventure park near Tully since last Monday.

Three children with gastro were airlifted to Cairns on Saturday but authorities decided at the time it was safer to leave the remaining students where they were.

Parts of north Queensland still at risk of flooding, police warn Read more

Authorities sent two helicopters from Cairns to airlift the group out on Sunday morning but floodwaters had receded enough for them to be bussed to Tully airport.

From there they were flown to Townsville, where they are due to be reunited with their families.

“The paramount concern of everybody was the safety and wellbeing of the children,” Superintendant Steve Munroe told ABC radio on Sunday. “They’ve been away from their homes for an extended period of time. The kids have been kept in really good spirits thanks to really good efforts by the teachers who were with them.”

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, travelled to the region on Sunday to assess the damage, along with the police commissioner, Ian Stewart, and the state disaster coordinator deputy commissioner, Bob Gee.

Torrential rain for much of the past week has caused flooding across the region, with the area between Cairns and Townsville declared a disaster by the state government and labelled an official catastrophe by the Insurance Council of Australia.

More than 700mm of rain fell in a number of catchment areas in four days, with The Boulders, south of Cairns, receiving 1009mm in the seven days to 9am on Saturday.

More than 200 homes were inundated at Ingham, where floodwaters started to recede on Saturday, and some residents at Innisfail had to evacuate.

Rain started to ease on Saturday but the Bureau of Meteorology has warned more may be on the way later next week, with a potential cyclone loitering in northern waters.

For most of the region, however, the focus is turning from response to recovery.

Palaszczuk said the full extent of the damage caused by the rain would not be known for weeks but that flooding would have a detrimental impact on banana and sugar cane crops, and the aquaculture industry.

“We will get the full assessments over the next few weeks about the impact on the economy and I think everyone should spare a thought for the farmers who are going to feel a huge impact,” she told reporters on Saturday.