UPDATE: FLOODS and mini tornadoes have left Queenslanders with little time to celebrate today's Australia Day.

In the north, rain from ex-cyclone Oswald has topped a metre in 48 hours, causing floods in the Gladstone area, with the city being declared a disaster zone.

About two-thousand people have been asked to evacuate.

To make things worse, as water pours over dams' spillways, an unusually high tide is expected for tomorrow morning, increasing pressure on low-lying areas, and tidal surges are also forecast for the Moreton Bay area near Brisbane.

Also in the south, around Bundaberg, three mini-tornadoes have torn through the costal townships of Bargara, Burnett Heads and Coonarr, damaging homes, shops, government buildings and other infrastructure, bringing down trees and powerlines, and leaving at least 17 people injured, two of them seriously.

In Burnett Heads alone, 150 homes are damaged.