Residents in low-lying parts of Logan and the northern Gold Coast have been told to move to higher ground as a "wall of water" approaches the region.

The Gold Coast council has told residents near the northern suburbs of Stapylton and Jacobs Well to evacuate, and warned those who remain behind that they risk being trapped by floodwaters for several days.

IN PICTURES: Storm emergency continues as heavy rains hit South East Queensland and northern NSW

Floodwaters encroach on a suburb, inundating homes. (9NEWS)

A car appears to be stuck in floodwaters at Laravale. (9NEWS)

Floodwaters reach the rooftops of buildings. (9NEWS)

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said people in the area should get out now.

Residents in low-lying areas around Beenleigh have also been told to get out as the Albert River continues to rise towards a possible 130-year record level.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the river level may reach around 8.0 metres in the areas on Friday afternoon, near the 8.1 metre record level set in 1887.

Logan Mayor Luke Smith told the Courier Mail a "wall of water" was heading for the area from the Scenic Rim region.

The Logan River at Beaudesert reached 14.76m just after 5.30am, above the 13.9m record recorded in 1991, and wasn't expected to peak until after 7am.

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.

Residents in the region are being urged to only use their tap water for drinking, after all the water treatment plants were knocked out in the region.

Aerial photos captured by choppercam show flooding in Jimboomba and Laravale, to the north and south of Beaudesert respectively.

Floodwaters inundate buildings. (9NEWS)

The Logan River reached 14.76m just after 5.30am. (9NEWS)

A car partially submerged in floodwaters at Jimboomba. (9NEWS)

Flooding has claimed the Famous Yatala Pies shop, with the highway landmark inundated with water.

More closely resembling an island oasis in the middle of a murky brown lake, the pie shop's flooding will upset commuters who regularly make it a stopping point between Gold Coast and Brisbane.

The Famous Yatala Pies shop is inundated.

The Pacific Motorway's exit next to the pie shop has also been shut off as arterial roads have been flooded.

Northern NSW is now feeling the full brunt of the former cyclone. More than 6000 people have left their homes, having been ordered to evacuate as rivers rage with the rain.

Authorities fear lives may have been lost overnight.

NSW EVACUATION ORDERS



Murwillumbah East

Murwillumbah CBD

South Murwillumbah

Tweed Heads

Tweed Heads South & West

Lismore South & North

Lismore CBD

Chinderah

Kingscliff

Fingal Head

Bilambil

Billinudgel

Condong

Tumbulgum

Kyogle



NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Mark Morrow said there were 130 flood rescues overnight on Thursday and some people who called for help couldn't be reached.

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

"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 rescue crews worked through the night to save lives.

"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.

"We'll try and find those people that made calls to us last night and help them this morning."

The Lismore levee has been breached for the first time ever this morning as flood waters rush down the Wilsons River and into the city, flooding businesses.

Lismore mayor Isaac Smith said the city's protective levee had never failed Lismore before, but water was now running over the top of it.

The levee can hold a maximum water level of 11 metres, but the river has reached 11.27 metres and is still rising. It is expected to peak at 11.5 metres today.

The city's siren was activated overnight warning residents to leave immediately.

Mr Smith said the amount of rain that fell on Thursday hadn't been seen for 30 to 40 years.

"Locals with a bit of knowledge might have seen it coming, but everyone's been caught quite unawares."

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

A severe weather warning remains in place for destructive winds, abnormally high tides and damaging surf in the Northern Rivers and the Mid North Coast, with heavy rain easing as the low moves away from the coast.

Ex-tropical cyclone Debbie is now sitting north of Lord Howe Island.

The SES warned each area issued with an evacuation order that “now is the time to leave, do not delay” and advised that all the orders are mandatory.

"Do not delay your evacuation. Roads will be congested or closed. You could become trapped and need rescue," the SES said in a statement.

"The Bureau of Meteorology has revised the prediction for the Tweed River to reach 6.2m at Murwillumbah early this morning," the NSW SES said.

People are being warned that as conditions continue to deteriorate, emergency crews may not be in a position to carry out rescues.

Queensland State Disaster Coordinator Stephan Gollschewski said emergency services were exasperated by the "foolish and quite stupid behaviour" some people had exhibited in very dangerous weather conditions.

"We had a person rescued last night that had driven into waters with family members and that person was charged with drink driving afterwards," he said.

In another case on Thursday, a boy was swept away after tying his boogie board to a bridge so he could surf a torrent of water coming down a creek. He was lucky to survive and managed to swim to safety.

The extreme weather left more than 100,000 homes and businesses without power in south-east Queensland overnight.

READ MORE: Family and pets rescued from flood waters in South East Queensland live on air

Most of the 101,901 homes without electricity are in Brisbane, Redland City, the Sunshine Coast and Noosa as winds of up to 115km/h hit the area.

There are hundreds of power lines down across the region.

"(The) big issue now is with the extent of wind damage, and flooding on top, access is becoming something of an issue," an Energex spokesman said.

"It's going to be a lot of work."

More than 1095 schools will remain closed today from Agnes Water in Queensland, south to the New South Wales border to ensure students will not be put at risk. A further 70 schools are closed in New South Wales.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk apologised to parents for the inconvenience of shutting schools, but said she won’t apologise for "putting safety front and centre".

Find a full list of school closures here.