Flood-hit Townsville resident Lenny Fletcher pumped water out of his home on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday after an overnight deluge flooded his home again.
He was one of the few people visible on the wide streets in the flood-ravaged suburbs on Wednesday, the 12th day of north Queensland's flood crisis.
The peak has passed and water levels are falling but the ground is so saturated that 60mm of rain overnight caused the water to rise.
"We got absolutely smashed, " Lenny said, adding the water rose "two foot" in an hour.
"We've been here the whole time since the rain started. We had a lot of water in the yard but we pumped it all out on Tuesday."
On Wednesday morning Lenny was back at the pump shop to rehire the pump he used the day before.
He's hoping he won't be back on Thursday.
Around the town the streets are filled with deep rivers of mud and a smell of stagnant water and rotting carpet fills the air.
The air hums with the sound of generators and high-pressure water spray as mud is washed away from inside homes and on driveways
Footpaths are piled with debris - including furniture, washing machines and children's toys but the council has warned residents they will have to dump their own rubbish.
A football team arrived in convoy at Hermit Park on Wednesday armed with brooms, buckets and rubber gloves.
Asked by AAP where they were going, they simply shrugged and said: "To help".
Politicians have been visiting Townsville during the crisis, and on Wednesday Opposition Leader Bill Shorten turned up.
He visited the disaster co-ordination centre where a woman wept as she told him she had fled her Hermit Park home in a kayak.
She told Mr Shorten about the Townsville spirit, and how the entire community banded together as the waters rose.
They made makeshift ramps to launch boats to rescue people, she said.
"I love this city, I never want to leave."
