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Communities remain isolated and thousands of people are still without electricity in the state of Queensland, but the bureau of meteorology said the showers that shook the flooded areas with more than 300 millimeters of daily rainfall have subsided .
"It seems that the worst has probably happened," said AFP Vinord Anand, forecaster of the Bureau of Meteorology.
"We are still seeing precipitation rates consistent with our weather warning criteria, but the totals are not as high as during the last five to ten days."
The daily rainfall has dropped below 250 millimeters and will "slightly decrease" on Thursday and Friday as the monsoon trough moves slowly offshore, he added.
The tropical regions of northern Australia generally experience heavy rains during the monsoon season, but recent torrential rains have seen some areas receive rainfall for a year in just one week.
The rains turned the roads into rivers and prompted the authorities to open the flood gates of a major dam on Sunday.
With floodwater receding in some areas of Townsville, which was severely affected, residents returned home to help each other clean their mud-covered properties.
"Just walk up the alley, looking at all the mud, that's when it hit the house," Clayton resident Linning told national broadcaster ABC on Wednesday.
"There are a lot of neighbors we have never met before and we have now, which is really nice.It is an unfortunate way of having to create a community, but it's the case."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Queensland Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said Wednesday that officials are working to ensure that affected locals have access to recovery benefits and support.
The Insurance Council of Australia added that claims for compensation "increased from hour to hour", resulting in a loss of A $ 45 million (US $ 32 million) against 3 500 requests.
More than 100 additional police officers have been deployed to help deal with the disaster, while the military, which has an important base in Townsville, has also been active.
At the same time, police said they had opened an investigation into the deaths of two men aged 21 and 23 after their bodies were found in floodwaters.
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