Heavy rains wreak havoc in Australia's Queensland as thousands ordered to be evacuated

Heavy rains continued to wreak havoc in the state of Queensland in northeast Australia on Thursday, (30 March).

According to reports, all schools in south-east Queensland remained shut and workers were sent home. In parts of New South Wales and neighbouring Queensland, thousands were asked to evacuate to higher grounds to escape floods.

The capital city of Brisbane and Gold coast reportedly witnessed heavy rains and winds up to 115km/hr on Thursday, according to The Guardian.

The state was pounded as Cyclone Debbie made landfall on Tuesday, causing widespread destruction. It was downgraded to a tropical low on Wednesday but continued to pack heavy rain. A flood warning has been issued for Albert River, which lies south of Brisbane.

Queensland State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters in Brisbane: "This severe weather system that began with Cyclone Debbie and is tracking down the coast is causing havoc across our state."

State Emergency Services took more than 3,600 phone calls for help and saved dozens of people from floodwaters.

The weather conditions have made it difficult cyclone relief and clean-up efforts difficult as crews faced horrific conditions to reach people in isolated areas and restore electricity.

On Thursday, evacuations of thousands of people stranded on resort islands such as Hamilton and Daydream Islands, in the northeast began as water ran low.

"It's kind of chaos down here," Jon Clements, a architect who was waiting to be evacuated from Hamilton Island, told Reuters. "I think there's probably three times the number of people they can put on aeroplanes at the moment down there."