Queensland is in the midst of a major flood emergency as warnings are issued from Bundaberg to the border.

The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted major flood levels to rise in Brisbane as well as Ipswich and despite a break in the torrential rain, waters are expected to continue rising for a number of days.

Rainfall totals between 400 and 800 millimetres have been recorded across Brisbane and Ipswich over the past four days, causing widespread and significant flooding.

So far seven deaths have been recorded in Queensland during the flooding emergency, and in New South Wales, where the weather system has now moved, a man is missing in Lismore.

Today on Please Explain, Brisbane Times editor Sean Parnell joins Nathanael Cooper to tell us how locals are coping and when the water will subside.