“What you are doing is not just illegal, but you are also grubs. You are praying on the most vulnerable Queenslanders at the time of their most vulnerability. The police will find you and bring you before the courts,” an angry Mark Ryan said.

“You’re not even Queenslanders when you engage in this behaviour because Queenslanders help their mates … if you are thieving from them you are not a Queenslander, you are a grub.”

Ryan was speaking alongside the Premier and Police Commissioner during a flood update on Tuesday at Jindalee.

Commissioner Katarina Carroll had revealed a 21-year-old male had been arrested and charged with burglary following three cases of alleged looting in Goodna, Blackstone and Bundamba involving two businesses and one private home.

“I can’t overstate how disappointed and disgusted I am that has occurred in areas where people have had to leave their houses,” Carroll said.

“If you think that you can break into these houses will investigate you, we will arrest you and charge you and put you before the courts like you deserve,” she said.

Carroll said the flood emergency had so far claimed eight lives and grave fears were held for another two people – a male who fell from a vessel in the Brisbane River on February 26 and a person whose vehicle was swept up in floodwaters on the Brisbane Valley Highway on February 27.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk added her anger to the news of looting.

“I cannot believe there is looting … I cannot believe people would go to such depths, these are people that are going through the hardships of their life …. Just stop it.”

The revelations of looting cam as Brisbane’s lord mayor launched registrations for the “Mud Army” as the city prepares for a monumental cleanup of flood affected areas across the southeast.

The Premier said that the Brisbane River had peaked again at 9am on Tuesday but the peak of 3.35 metres was not as high as initially anticipated.

Palasczcuk said the Bureau of Meteorology had crunched some numbers which revealed that the rainfall received over the two-three day period of the weekend was equivalent to 80 per cent of the rainfall normally received in one year.

“That’s phenomenal,” she said, adding that more than 30 suburbs across the south east had received more than 1000ml.

Palaszczuk said controlled releases of water from the swollen Wivenhoe Dam would continue over the next three to four days during which time the Brisbane River level was expected to remain at 3.5 metres.

Wivenhoe Dam had been sitting at 185 per cent of capacity and this had now reduced to 172 per cent due to controlled releases.

The BOM had advised the weather would remain clear on Tuesday and Wednesday and then severe thunderstorms and isolated rain from Thursday and Friday.

Brisbane City Council will work with Volunteering Queensland to orchestrate the cleanup, as issues arose in the 2011 floods when household items were thrown away and insurance claims for affected residents were disrupted.

“We learned a lot from the first time and we’re gonna make sure it’s done well this time,” the mayor said.

“With our registrations, we can register people to help but we also can register people who need help.”

On the Fraser Coast, Maryborough residents have also begun their cleanup after the town’s flood levee withheld a peak of 10.3m overnight.

It is the second time the levee has been erected in the town this year after flooding forced the evacuation of the CBD in January.

Local MP Bruce Saunders said there was an “eeriness” as residents waited for the water to rise, but now the “resilience phase” for which the town is known begins.

“We’ve got a lot of volunteers already registered with the Fraser Coast Regional Council to help the community get back on their feet,” Mr Saunders told AAP.

“The community spirit here to get the city back up on its feet is second to none.”

In Ipswich, more than 150 residents remain stranded in low lying pockets of Goodna as the floodwaters slowly start to recede.

While the “Mud Army” has hit the ground, council water trucks are topped up and will wash away silt as the water recedes.

“We’re cleaning as we go, we’ve done this before.”

Also struggling to without electricity is the Red Bowler Cafe at West End.

The eatery was “an island” on Monday and while it survived without water damage, owner Garrath Elborne is trying to operate without power.

Sausages on the barbecue are on the menu and pod coffees have replaced the espresso machine as the cafe becomes a generator-powered charging station for residents facing days without power.

“We became an internet cafe in the worst possible way,” Mr Elborne said.

The Red Bowler will still go ahead with its regular Tuesday film screening for neighbours facing another night without electricity.

“Tonight will probably be the busiest night of my classic movies,” Mr Elborne said.