THE airport at Rockhampton will be closed, along with the major highway into the city, as the swollen Fitzroy River peaks at a higher than anticipated 8.7 metres.
The weather bureau had earlier expected the flooded river in central Queensland to peak at 8.5 metres in the early hours of Saturday morning.
But by late Friday afternoon, the Fitzroy was already at that level and the Bureau of Meteorology was reassessing its forecasts.
Rockhampton Regional Council issued an alert on Friday night, warning of floodwaters in the crocodile-infested river reaching a new peak of 8.7 metres by Saturday night.
The level is still below the 9.2 metres the river reached in 2011 but it means Rockhampton Airport will be closed after the final passenger flights leave on Friday night.
However, the airport remains open for emergency flights, including the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
A council spokeswoman said an assessment of levels recorded upstream led to the new flood assessment.
"The decision was not made lightly and was made having regard for the safety of our community and will be reassessed in the morning," she said in a statement.
The Yeppen roundabout on the Bruce Highway, south of Rockhampton, is closed to light vehicles and motorcycles but will remain open longer for four-wheel drives.
The Yeppen crossing had earlier remained open despite 10cm of water covering the roadway.
On Friday morning, Rockhampton deputy mayor Tony Williams predicted 1100 backyards would be flooded if the river reached 8.5 metres, but for that to happen the river would have to rise higher than currently forecast.
He told reporters that floodwaters would recede within 24 to 36 hours, compared with 2011 when it took three weeks.
A week after ex-tropical cyclone Oswald hit the Queensland coast, roads in Rockhampton's low-lying suburbs such as Depot Hill and Berserker are closed as floodwaters lap below some houses on stilts.
Meanwhile, beef farmers upstream of Rockhampton, which is known as the beef capital of Australia, are counting the costs as floodwaters there recede.
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