The 15-year-old boy was pulled into a stormwater drain in far north Queensland, prompting a warning from authorities with showers set to continue.
Police on Thursday released footage of an officer arriving moments after the teen went missing in Mareeba as concerned children stood by the flooded drain.
The boy luckily re-emerged a few streets away with cuts and grazes.
The incident on Tuesday has prompted a plea for people to stay away from floodwaters and not drive through submerged roads.
"We were lucky on that occasion that that boy came out with some scratches and bruises," State Disaster Coordinator Shane Chelepy said on Thursday.
"We do not want to see bad outcomes from kids playing in floodwaters - you just do not know what is under that water."
He said many people had already been rescued from floodwaters, with police releasing video of passengers in submerged cars in Goldsborough in the far north.
Amid mutiple road closures due to flooding drivers are again being warned to obey the warnings. (HANDOUT/QUEENSLAND FIRE DEPARTMENT)
"We are only early in the season and we have already seen risky behaviour being undertaken with people driving through floodwaters," Mr Chelepy said.
"It does not matter how big your car is, or how equipped it is to handle four-wheel-drive conditions, it will not save you if you can't see what is underneath the water and the road gives out from underneath you."
The state's north is next in the firing line as residents prepare for torrential downpours with a storm system set to form off the coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns a trough off the coast of Townsville will drift north from Thursday and linger for days.
Severe Weather Update: Rain and storms to impact northern Queensland. — Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) Video current: 12:00pm AEST 19 December 2024.Latest forecasts and warnings: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/pXunkhUeQ8December 19, 2024
A tropical low is also forming in the far north near Weipa and should move south down the coast near Townsville over the weekend.
The bureau said it was unlikely the tropical low would develop into the season's first cyclone, currently a less than five per cent chance.
Daily rainfall totals up to 60mm are forecast for the north on Thursday and up to 80mm on Friday, with heavier localised falls of up to 200mm predicted.
"Localised river level rises and flash flooding are likely within the areas of heaviest rainfall, with isolated minor riverine flooding possible," the bureau said.
Further south, residents await floodwaters to subside after being asked to prepare to evacuate in the Western Downs and South Burnett, west of Brisbane.
A major flood warning was issued for downstream of the Logan River at Beaudesert, which is now subsiding.
Rising rivers in Queensland's Western Downs has emergency services worried about flooding. (HANDOUT/RHIEN TALBOT)
It follows days of heavy rain across southeast Queensland that caused flooding, power outages and affected the Australia-India cricket Test at the Gabba.
The State Emergency Service received 145 calls for help in the last 24 hours, with 25 of those in Brisbane and another 23 further north in the Moreton Bay region.
The SES said the majority were for sandbagging and tarping with 10 per cent for felled trees.
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