Charleville, an Australian outback town in Queensland, was submerged in three days – by a year's worth of rain.

Ironically, for a town which has been battling drought for years, residents were left hoping the rain would stop.

Hundreds were evacuated, spending Tuesday night in a secured location, with up to 500 homes inundated by floodwaters.

The flooded Mary River was way above its normal water level, in one part of the town cutting off a road.

Residents in the affected areas will have access to government disaster relief funding.

The weather bureau said the huge amount of rainfall was caused by a monsoon low, now on its way to South Australia.