Australia's far north remains on tenterhooks as a tropical low threatens to intensify into a damaging tropical cyclone as it slowly closes in on the east coast.
Whether it develops into a cyclone or not, it is clear the system will bring heavy rain to the north Queensland coast, and fill the same rivers that flow inland and have burst in recent weeks from other deluges.
The Bureau of Meteorology says it will still pack a punch with fierce winds and heavy rainfall, with a "moderate" risk of a cyclone forming.
Greg Campbell, mayor of Cloncurry, which has seen some of the worst of the floods, said the scale of the event cannot be overstated.
"This flood has impacted a large part of our shire, and the region" Cr Campbell said.
"Livestock losses are emerging, and likely significant, mining operations have been disrupted, transport routes have been cut, and critical assets like our airport have suffered major damage."
Additional emergency crews are on standby and State Emergency Service teams have been called in, ready to respond.
"The bottom line is by the time this reaches the coast during the weekend, whether it has or hasn't been named as a tropical cyclone, it's still going to bring some really significant weather impact onto the country," forecaster Angus Hines told AAP on Friday.
The system is tracking toward the Queensland coast at around 13kmh and will bring widespread, persistent rain, initially for the North Tropical Coast from Cooktown through Cairns down to Townsville.
"It's going to take a couple of days to cross those few 100km - it's not moving particularly swiftly - and it is forecast to reach the Queensland coast somewhere in the vicinity of Townsville, maybe just to the north of Townsville, during the weekend, either late Saturday night or perhaps overnight early Sunday morning."
Six-hour rainfall totals of 100-180mm were possible, with isolated totals exceeding 200mm in coastal areas.
Further falls of up to 150mm were possible across western Cape York, particularly further north.
It's unwelcome news to desperate farmers in Queensland's Gulf Country, who are fighting to save cattle sick with exhaustion after slogging through black soil and floodwaters in search of higher ground.
More than 30,000 livestock are missing or dead after floodwaters devastated Queensland's northwest, isolating towns and properties following a week of heavy rain.
Cody Rogers, from Wyangarie Station near Julia Creek, said pneumonia, tendonitis and rain scalding - where hair was effectively burned off because animals were unable to dry out - were all common problems.
He said midges and sand flies were causing the animals additional stress.
"Cattle, man and machine - we're all getting tired," Mr Rogers said, as he prepared to move his stock again.
"The Flinders (River) keeps coming up. A lot of the cattle we got away from it, but they're no longer really safe there anymore.
"We've got 750 of them on the road. You can see they're doing it pretty tough, the poor buggers."
He said he didn't want to think about what more rain would mean for the station and stock.
"It's pretty nerve-wracking, a fair bit of anxiety waiting for that to turn up," Mr Rogers said.
"All we can do is day by day at the moment. As cattle producers, we love our cattle more than anything. So we're just looking after them the best we can."
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning extending from north of Cooktown south to Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday group.
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