The flood crisis in north-west Queensland has killed 500,000 cattle, destroyed homes and caused hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage.
But now the clouds have lifted, the full extent of the deluge has been revealed.
Satellite images show how the 1,000km long, but usually narrow, Flinders River has expanded into a 70km-wide wall of water.
The river is experiencing its most significant flooding in more than half a century, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday.
The full extent of the north-west Queensland flood crisis revealed via satellite imagery. Left is an image of the barely noticeable Flinders River before the deluge. Right, the floodwaters are clearly viable from space
The Bureau of Meteorology said the main body of floodwaters in the Flinders River is covering an area abou the same size as New Caledonia
'By our hydrologists' calculations the main body of floodwaters in the Flinders River is approximately 300-400km long and 70km wide,' the Bureau said.
'[That's] a total of 16,000 square kilometres. Roughly the same size as New Caledonia.'
The muddy waters of the state's longest river are slowly moving towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, where the usually pure waters have been turned a murky brown.
'The Flinders River system is now a flood plain. This is a mega river making its way up to the gulf,' Sky News Weather meteorologist Rob Sharpe told news.com.au.
Satellite images show how the 1,000km long, but usually narrow, Flinders River has expanded into a 70km-wide wall of water
Pictured: An aerial shot of Richmond, which lies on the Flinders River, taken last week
The muddy waters of the state's longest river are slowly moving towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, where the usually pure waters have been turned a murky brown
'The amount of rainfall has been staggering... A year's worth of rain fell in one week and that's a record flood event for the Flinders River.
'All that water, half a metre of rain, has flowed into one basin combining into one giant river.'
Queensland Flood Services Manager Victoria Dodds said
