'We haven't panicked, but we are prepared': The residents waiting out Australia's floods

Sunk into a camping chair wearing shorts and in his Led Zeppelin T-shirt, John Duric looks relaxed.

In the arm of the seat, a drinks pocket holds an icy bottle of beer. But on the ground next to him, a pile of half a dozen sandbags, ready to go.

Mr Duric lives across the street from the Ross River – overflowing and fast-moving – in Idalia, one of six suburbs labelled "black zones" in Townsville, one of the areas hardest hit by a flooding emergency in Queensland state in Australia.

Authorities have urged people living in those spots to leave. They were given a deadline of noon on Sunday, but like plenty of others, Mr Duric has opted to stay put.

"We've only been here 12 months, so I've relied on a lot of information from people around us," he says.

"We were thinking about moving out, but we have pets, we've got nowhere to go so have decided to follow the neighbour's advice and stay.

"We haven't panicked but we are prepared. Let's hope for the best and hope we don't have to use the sand bags."

The city has been inundated with more than 600mm (23.6in) of rain in the past week. Other parts of the state of Queensland have seen almost 1.3m of rain since Saturday, causing rivers and reservoirs to overflow, with officials suggesting as many as 2,000 homes could be inundated before the water reached its peak.

But by late Monday afternoon, both the cloud and the mood had lifted. The first break in the rain for days bringing smiles, and curiosity, as locals headed out to inspect the waterways.

For Daniel Watts, walking the dog with his family, there's a glimmer of optimism that their home will not suffer the same fate as during floods here six years ago – when water rose 1.5 metres and his property had to be gutted.

"It's been on a knife edge as to whether our house will get inundated or not, so there's been quite a bit of anxiety," he told the BBC.

"Luckily, it hasn't yet. And at this stage, the dam levels are retreating, which is good. It's still wait and see, though. It wouldn't take much."

The Townsville Disaster Management Group expects the Ross River to peak between 07:00 and 08:00 on Tuesday (21:00 to 22:00GMT).

"We're not quite out of the woods yet," Queensland state Premier David Chrisafulli told ABC News.

But Mr Watts is taking comfort from Monday's easing weather – a contrast to 2019 when, he says, the rain "just did not stop".

"Having a bit of a reprieve is from the rain is really good," he said.

"It gives everything just time. It gives time for the river and the dam, but we'll see. It's not over."