Qld journo saves man from car in floodwaters
An ABC reporter swam to the rescue of a man whose car was sinking in Brisbane floodwaters after a slow-moving thunderstorm lashed parts of Queensland.
Two onlookers, including an ABC reporter, swam to the rescue of a man trapped in a sinking car in Brisbane floodwaters on Thursday afternoon.
The man drove his four-wheel-drive at speed through water on Buchanan Road at Morayfield, north of Brisbane when the car stalled and began to sink.
ABC reporter Will Murray and another bystander swam out to the car, prised open the door and pulled the driver out of the vehicle.
The Queensland Fire Department advised all residents to not swim in floodwaters.
About 170 millimetres of rain has fallen in the area since Thursday morning, as locals were warned a slow-moving thunderstorm would continuously lash parts of Queensland.
Almost 160mm of rain fell in the three-hour period to 7:30am this morning at Caboolture, north of Brisbane. And 168mm of rainfall was recorded in the same period at Sheep Station Creek.
Closer to Brisbane, 106mm was recorded at Eatons Hill and almost 50mm in the CBD.
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The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe storm warning for people in parts of Somerset, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast council areas.
The warning advises that heavy rain is continuing through parts of Moreton Bay.
“Heavy rainfall continuing through parts of Moreton Bay and developing along parts of the Main Range,” the warning said.
A City of Moreton Bay statement warned residents the Burpengary Creek water level gauge at Dale Street was at 10 metres – and rising.
That is 6.5m above the usual creek level, council said.
Some residents at Caboolture, Burpengary and Burpengary East have been warned to prepare to leave.
Earlier this morning, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner warned the river city could be affected by the severe weather, advising more than 140,000 sandbags would be available for collection from depots across the suburbs.
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“Up to 80mm rain is forecast, but we’re ready to assist,” he said.
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Chris Stream said the State Emergency Services already had “several hundred taskings” and there were two rescues last night made by members of the public.
“In both cases they’ve been carried out by other members of the public, and we are receiving a large amount of calls in regards to people being observed driving into floodwaters,” Stream told the ABC.
A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also current for parts of the Darling Downs and Granite Belt and Southeast Coast districts.
South east Queensland has already seen more than 170mm of rainfall in three hours today, with flash flooding occurring in several places, including 262mm at the Caboolture Water Treatment Plant just north of Brisbane.
This is the heaviest October rain in decades in several locations, with some records already being broken, with Beerburrum registering its wettest October day on record with 170.8mm. The long-term average for the entire month of October is 81.4mm.
Toowoomba has received 42.6mm, its highest daily total in 29 years, almost as much rain in one day as it received in the four months previous.
Severe flooding in Morayfield has forced many road closures, with Morayfield Shopping Centre almost completely inaccessible and its Kmart store closed with water leaking through the roof.
Brisbane last experienced significant flooding in February 2022, when 400-1100mm of rainfall across five days and the Brisbane River peaked at 3.85 metres.
Track flooding and road closure alerts here.
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