Cyclone Debbie: Big wet brings widespread flooding to SE Queensland, northern NSW

Heavy rain is wreaking havoc across Queensland and northern NSW as the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie move south.

Parts of south-east Queensland have had more than 400 millimetres of rain, and tens of thousands of residents in north-east NSW have been ordered to evacuate as the weather bureau warns of flooding worse than 2001 and 2005 events.

In Lismore, residents were spending Thursday night waiting nervously as the Wilsons River was threatening to flow over its levee and inundate low-lying parts of town.

See how the day unfolded.