For almost 30 years, floodwaters never threatened north Queensland’s Einasleigh Hotel.

But earlier this week, just days after taking over, new publicans Tayla and Braydon Wellby watched helplessly as their pub redefined the term “watering hole”.

The hotel quickly went under as flooding swept through the region on Tuesday, triggering helicopter rescues and evacuation plans.

The Wellbys and their three young kids were forced to jump in the car and seek higher ground.

“We waited it out in the car. I was definitely very scared,” Tayla Wellby said.

“It was such a large body of water and so unpredictable.”

At one stage, Einasleigh residents were on the brink of being flown out after heavy rain caused the nearby Copperfield Dam to spill, cutting off roads and threatening homes.

Wellby said the water rose so quickly there was no time to sandbag.

“The previous publican, who had been here for 26 years, had never seen water in the pub,” she said of the late deluge.

“There was no way anyone thought it was going to get this high.”

Heavy rain also triggered flooding further south at Greenvale, west of Townsville, where three people were rescued from a rooftop by helicopter early on Wednesday. In the nearby Etheridge Shire, more were evacuated from inundated properties along the Gilbert River by chopper.

Residents of the 100-strong town of Einasleigh also looked set to be flown out but plans were ditched when water levels receded.

On Wednesday, Wellby on Wednesday was still cleaning up at the heritage-listed, two-storey pub built in 1909, with her kids in tow.

She agreed it was an unusual introduction to a job she and her husband began only on January 23.

“It is certainly a story for the books,” she said.

Despite it all, the Wellbys aren’t thinking of giving up their new gig any time soon. Indeed, the still sodden hotel was open for business on Wednesday.

“We are still pretty determined. Our doors are open today. If anyone is keen for a cold drink feel free to drop by,” Wellby said.

-AAP