The mayor has warned the thieves to turn themselves in before the community witch hunt begins.
Torrential rain in North Queensland has forced Adani to release flood waters into the Caley Valley Wetlands near the Abbot Point port at Bowen.
A hundred police reinforcements from south-east stations have relieved exhausted local crews.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service have confirmed police are treating it as deaths in custody but the status could change.
Given that the flooding currently covers a stretch of coast from Cairns to Mackay,it would take days to piece together the big picture using airborne mapping.
Townsville schools are gradually reopening and the number of homes without power is on the decline as the floods recede.
One of Australia's leading scientists has warned both the Queensland and federal governments that they are not keeping pace with the impacts of climate change.
The Queensland floods have turned deadly on the 11th day of the extreme weather event.
Townsville would need to receive another week of intense rain before tailings dams at the Palmer-owned nickel plant came close to overflowing.
North Queensland's flooding disaster has entered the 11th day and more than 1000 residents remain in evacuation centres.
Andrew Roberts is more worried about being eaten by a crocodile in his Townsville home than chest-high water surging through the ground floor.