Floodwaters could reach biblical proportions and Townsville resident Doug Button reckons his family's flight to safety would still be covered.
The Buttons were one of only two families who stayed to witness Townsville's big wet roll into their street in Idalia, in the city's south.
"We had a 30-footer parked across the road, a brand new big 30 foot boat so if anything happened, we had an evacuation plan in place," he said.
"I'm a recreational fisherman so safety was never an issue.
"And it was good we were there because we actually got to put a lot of stuff up as the water was coming in, like me (sic) RM Williams boots and all those sorts of things are safe. All of the important stuff, mate."
In stoic north Queensland fashion, the Buttons sipped wine and beer as waters inundated their bungalow on Sunday evening.
"We're going down with the ship," Mr Button said in a video he posted to social media.
Water ran as high as 440 millimetres through the house overnight, which at least left their beds dry to sleep in.
"The house has still got about 160mm through it, so not liveable and we have a couple of dogs and one's a puppy, mate, so it makes it hard," Mr Button told the ABC.
"(The house) is devastated but there's people worse off than us. It's going to be a big clean-up effort."
In the end, the family evacuated the property not via the big boat but a tinny in the front yard.
The family are now sheltering with friends in neighbouring Annandale.
"High and dry and about to have my first coffee," Mr Button said.
He said he knew of at least 30 other family and friends whose homes were flooded "from what I know and I don't know all of them".
"I'm also an insurance broker so I'm going to be a very busy boy as well," he said.
"But we can't get into the office at the moment, we're sort of trapped."
