TWO caravanners are lucky to be alive after their rig was swept away by violent floodwaters in far north Queensland.

One of the 58-year-old men, from Toowoomba and Regency Downs in the Lockyer Valley near Brisbane, climbed a tree and hung on for dear life while his mate managed to scramble onto a small sandbank ... and there they stayed for more than two days waiting for someone to rescue them.

The drama began as they attempted to cross a flooded roadway near Mt Garnet on the Atherton Tablelands.

Police said their car and caravan were washed into the Lynd River between Mt Surprise and Almaden and they were left helpless as the torrent raged around them.

Pig shooters spotted the exhausted pair and they were rescued just after midnight by a Queensland Fire and Rescue swift water rescue crew – more than 48 hours after their ordeal began.

Paramedics rushed the men to Atherton Hospital with no reported injuries.

A police spokesman said the men had been swept about 100m downstream and conditions were too dangerous to attempt a rescue until experts arrived.

"People could see them and hear them but they couldn't get to them because they were stranded in the middle of the flooded river," he said.

The spokesman said that when resources finally reached the scene, they were "able to go and grab them".

The men's waterlogged caravan and car were found nearby.

The dramatic rescue again prompted a plea from emergency services for travellers to avoid entering flooded creeks and roadways.

Emergency Management Queensland and Queensland Fire and Rescue Service warned that floodwaters would continue to be a danger.

Acting Inspector and Manager for Regional Training Tai Moore said people often underestimated the danger of waters, thinking they could make it through.

"Floodwaters can be lethal and their currents can be deceptive," he explained.

"What appears to be a shallow, placid body of water can turn into a raging floodway in seconds. When this happens, vehicles are easily swept away.

"These men were extremely lucky. But this summer across Queensland not everyone has been so lucky. Nobody is invincible and it’s downright irresponsible to think otherwise."