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A man is still missing and about 150 homes in Logan are underwater but other parts of southeast Queensland are beginning to clean up after the region's worst floods in a decade.

Police continue to search the swollen Brisbane River for the elderly man, who fell from a boat near Breakfast Creek on Saturday.

Nine people have already died in floods triggered by relentless rain that has pummelled some parts of the region for up to a week.

South of Brisbane, major flooding was occurring on Wednesday in Waterford, Loganholme and Beenleigh where the Logan River has inundated about 150 homes after rising higher than it did in 2017, when ex-tropical cyclone Debbie lashed the region.

In Brisbane, the river has dropped to a minor to moderate flood level for the first time in two days.

More than 19,000 homes and businesses in Brisbane, Gympie, Ipswich and Logan have been damaged along with roads, bridges and other infrastructure by the widespread floods.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the cleanup and repair bill could run "into the millions if not hitting the billion mark".

"I'm sick of these bad times. We've had two years of the pandemic, now we've had floods across the entire southeast and up to Fraser Coast and I think we need a really good Easter," she told the Nine Network on Wednesday.

Ms Palaszczuk has been talking with the 1150 people in evacuation centres, many of whom had lost their homes but were relieved to have survived.

She promised the government would help people get back on their feet once the water had fully receded.

"There are so many people that are really going through the toughest of times," the premier said.

There has been some criticism of the government for not pre-emptively releasing water from the Wivenhoe Dam before the intense rain set in.

However, Ms Palaszczuk said that not even the Bureau of Meteorology had predicted that Wivenhoe would be filled with the equivalent of "four Sydney Harbours" in two to three days.

She also said none of the dam releases thus far have pushed the Brisbane River level any higher than the peak it reached from existing flooding.

"Now, Mary River flooded, Gympie and Maryborough, and they had very high flooding - nothing to do with Wivenhoe," she told Network Ten.

"Down in northern NSW, they had the worst floods ever, nothing to do with Wivenhoe.

"Wivenhoe did its job, it held back four Sydney Harbours, and what we are seeing now is controlled releases. What do those controlled releases mean, the controlled releases mean that this will not make the flood level go higher, but what it will do is it will actually prolong the time of the flood."

Meanwhile, the BoM has warned of possible severe thunderstorms with intense rain in parts of the region from Wednesday afternoon.

"So very much the message to those people in southeast Queensland - the danger isn't over just yet," the BOM's Jonathon How said.

Commonwealth and state disaster payments of up to $180 per person and up to $900 for a family of five are also on offer for southeast Queensland residents hit by the floods.

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The Australian economy raced back after the impact of last year's Delta lockdowns, led by a strong rise in household consumption.

The December quarter national accounts released on Wednesday showed the economy grew by a hefty 3.4 per cent, rebounding from a 1.9 per cent contraction in the September quarter.

Annual growth rose to 4.2 per cent.

"Domestic demand drove the growth this quarter, with high levels of household spending, particularly in the states that emerged from COVID-19 lockdowns," Australian Bureau of Statistics acting head of national accounts Sean Crick said.

"Household spending in NSW, Victoria and the ACT rose 9.6 per cent, compared to the rest of Australia which rose 1.6 per cent."

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe says the economy has since proved resilient in the face of the Omicron variant, but warned the war in Ukraine is a new major source of uncertainty.

After leaving the cash rate unchanged at a record low 0.1 per cent at Tuesday's monthly board meeting, Dr Lowe said there were uncertainties about how persistent the pick-up in inflation will be, given recent developments in global energy markets and ongoing supply-side problems.

"While inflation has picked up, it is too early to conclude that it is sustainably within the target range," Dr Lowe said.

"The board is prepared to be patient as it monitors how the various factors affecting inflation in Australia evolve."

Economists expect the RBA will lift the cash rate later this year, but the timing of the first move is finely balanced.

The RBA expects the unemployment rate to fall under four per cent by the end of this year, while underlying inflation is projected to move above the two to three per cent target band and stay elevated.

"The potent mix means that the RBA will eventually need to move rates higher to dampen inflation," St George chief economist Besa Deda said.

"But at the same time, the RBA wants to hold rates low for as long as possible to support the recovery from the pandemic."

She said the risks from the war in Ukraine are of higher inflation, and possibly weaker global growth, depending on how events unfold.

Cost of living pressures are already being felt across the country with record petrol prices alone biting into household budgets.

The latest National Australia Bank wellbeing survey shows one-in-five Australians have missed a bill or loan payment in the past three months, while 75 per cent are trying to save but are challenged by debt repayments, bills and everyday spending.

More than 40 per cent of all adults reported a decline in their savings in the past three months.

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A number of residents in Logan in southeast Queensland had to be rescued overnight after their homes were cut off or inundated by floodwaters.

A major flood warning is still current for areas of the Logan River, south of Brisbane, where new records have been set from the peaks seen five years ago.

There were three water rescues overnight, including a woman found floating in floodwater in Jimboomba, Logan, in the early hours of Wednesday.

QFES Deputy Commissioner Mike Wassing said there were 85 requests for assistance, taking the total number of incidents for the crisis so far to 10,200 calls for help and 638 water rescues.

"It's still a very dangerous environment," he told the Nine Network.

"Unfortunately ... the bureau is now predicting the potential for severe storms later on today and through to the weekend."

Emergency crews were checking on the welfare of the residents of Waterford on Wednesday morning after the lower part of the Logan River rose.

The river level at the town is sitting at 10.7 metres, above the 2017 peak of 10.6m seen during Cyclone Debbie, after peaking on Tuesday afternoon at 11.15m.

"The Logan River at Waterford is expected to continue to ease, however, river levels will remain above the major flood level (9m) for the majority of Wednesday," the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Some 8000 homes in the Logan area are without power.

Meanwhile, other areas in the state's southeast have started a massive clean-up after the devastating flood event sparked by a 'rain bomb' that has killed nine people and ruined thousands of homes and businesses.

Queensland Police remain concerned for the fate of a man still missing after he fell from a boat into the Brisbane River at the weekend.

The massive clean-up effort will target at least 18,000 homes, prompting Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner to revive the 'Mud Army' that helped the city recover from floods in 2011.

But the BoM continues to warn "severe weather" could return, disrupting the recovery effort.

"We are looking at a return for showers and storms late Wednesday into Thursday and Friday," spokesman Jonathon How said.

"We could see localised heavy falls of 50mm to 100mm each day as well as damaging winds and small to large hail.

"So very much the message to those people in southeast Queensland - the danger isn't over just yet."

Aside from Logan River, the bureau is also monitoring major flooding of the Brisbane, Bremer and Mary Rivers as well as Warrill Creek.

"These rivers are likely to remain quite high for some time so the danger is still very much still there," Mr How said.

Elsewhere, health authorities are warning Queenslanders to stay away from floodwaters during the clean-up.

"There's the potential of biochemical contamination, the debris and potentially snakes - people definitely shouldn't be jumping in the water for a swim," epidemiologist Hilary Bambrick told AAP.

Queenslanders have also been warned of a rise in mosquito activity because the standing water creates ideal breeding conditions.

The Port of Brisbane is still closed but most schools are reopening on Wednesday with around 80 to remain shut, down from 550 the day before.

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