A swiftwater rescue team has been called to the Burnett Highway at Booubyjan in the Gympie region, where a man has had to climb onto the roof of a car stuck in floodwater.
A police spokesperson said the rescue helicopter was unable to attend due to the weather conditions.
It comes as residents in Sapphire in Queensland’s Central Highlands are being told to move to higher ground, while a woman has been rescued from her car on the Sunshine Coast as much of the state deals with the impacts of a tropical low that has saturated the far north.
Emergency warning sirens were sounded in the Gemfields town at 5:30am, as Central Highlands Council activated Sapphire’s emergency warning siren system, and residents are being told to move to higher ground as Retreat Creek rises rapidly.
An emergency warning has also been issued for flash flooding along Policeman’s Creek in nearby Rubyvale.
Police have also issued Watch and Act alerts for residents downstream of Jandowae Dam, in the Western Downs, which is at risk of flooding, and low-lying areas at Charley’s Creek at Chinchilla.
An emergency warning was issued for flash flooding in the Rubyvale area on Monday morning. (Supplied: Central Highlands Regional Council)
More than 100 millimetres of rainfall has been recorded in Sapphire since 9am yesterday, with falls of 150mm in nearby catchments.
Sapphire Caravan and Cabin Park manager Victoria Bentham said the situation was concerning for residents and visitors in the Gemfields area.
“I think in the six years we’ve been here, this is maybe the third time that the bridge has actually gone under,” she said.
“In the last half an hour, the bridge is actually under and [the creek] has breached its banks, which is very concerning for the people that are in the lower lying properties.”
Roads have been cut between Brooklands and Kumbia in the South Burnett. (Supplied: Elley Scott)
Ms Betham said the park had opened some cabins for emergency accommodation.
“We’ve got some families coming up here, so at least they’ll be safe and dry until the water subsides.
Ms Bentham said the first emergency siren sounded about 5.30am on Monday and some properties had already been impacted by flash flooding.
“We’ve just had a few phone calls from people basically watching their properties just go under and their possessions floating down the creek,” she said.
“When it hits, it’s very, very, very tragic.”
Creeks rose across Queensland’s Western Downs, including the Picckanjinnie Creek. (Supplied: Mindy Irwin)
On Sunday night, a woman was rescued from the roof of her car by two men in an inflatable boat after she became caught in floodwaters on Bald Knob Road in Peachester on the Sunshine Coast.
Seven people have been rescued from a campground in Chinchilla after Charleys Creek broke its bank early this morning.
Three Queensland Fire and Rescue crews were called shortly after 1am to help the campers escape the rising floodwater, which at its deepest point reached 100mm.
Nobody was hurt despite a tree falling on a caravan.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has also issued a severe weather warning for locally intense rainfall across the Central Highlands and Coalfields as the low-pressure system sits west of Clermont and is expected to move through the south-east today.
Water is lapping at the Retreat Creek bridge on Sapphire Anakie road in the Central Highlands. (Supplied: Central Highlands Regional Council)
It said the rain could lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding, with six-hourly totals up to 150mm, while heavy rain is also likely for the Central Interior, with six-hourly totals of between 60 and 90mm.
BOM has upgraded its flood warning for the Mary River in south-east Queensland, with major flooding expected at Tiaro from Monday afternoon and minor flooding at Maryborough from the late afternoon.
The bureau has also warned that heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding is likely over parts of south-east Queensland, with six-hourly totals between 70 and 120 millimetres.
A severe weather warning has been issued for the Central Highlands down to the Sunshine Coast. (Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology)
Six state schools and four independent schools have closed across Queensland, all citing flooding or severe weather impacts.
The bureau has issued more than 30 flood warnings across the state.
State remains on flood watch
The weather bureau has issued 30 flood warnings across the state, including the lower Flinders River, with moderate flooding as a possibility at Richmond from Monday.
Some coastal areas in the Whitsundays saw sudden creek rises on Sunday. (Supplied)
BOM senior meteorologist Bayden Gilbert said the bulk of the rainfall was due to a deepening trough in southern Queensland and the remnants of the tropical low over Queensland’s north-west.
“They’re combining to drag quite a bit of tropical moisture quite a bit further south than it usually makes it,” he said.
Mr Gilbert said both systems would be “whisked” towards the south-east, which could result in falls of up to 150mm in the region.
“The trough will make its way towards the coast on Monday and then offshore”.
But Mr Gilbert said, although the focus was squarely on the Burnett and further north, the bureau was monitoring the system in case it moved further south towards Brisbane.
“The risk of heavy rainfall will contract towards the south-east as we head into Monday.”
Debris at the Daintree Ferry crossing. (Supplied: Douglas Shire Council)
The deluge comes a year on from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which crossed the coast just north of Brisbane on March 8 last year, causing widespread damage.
North-west drenched
In north west Queensland, grazier Luke Spreadborough said many properties near McKinlay, Julia Creek, Richmond and Cloncurry had received another 120mm to up to 260mm over the weekend.
He said the latest rainfall was “not welcome” for many sodden graziers who have remained cut off by flooded and boggy roads after a metre of rain and flooding that killed tens of thousands of livestock in January.
Flood recovery could be in the millions for outback graziers
“A lot of places are still inundated and since the start of the year — 68 days or whatever — are still getting food flown into them and they can’t access their location.”
Mr Spreadborough, who is also a McKinlay Shire councillor, said locals were “safe and well” but clean up would likely continue all year.
“As long as these [rain] systems keep coming in at us, it just keeps pushing the start date back further and further.”
“For us, we’ve got 150 kilometres of fencing ahead of us and plus our cattle work — we probably won’t get most of our maintenance finished until the end of the year.”
Stranded in a national park
A group of 13 campers say they might have to wait days for a flooded creek to subside before they can make it home from a central Queensland national park.
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Biloela resident Jordan Rowe said he and his family were on their way home from a weekend camping trip at Stockyard Point in Byfield National Park to celebrate his mother’s birthday when they realised they were flooded in on Sunday morning.
The 23-year-old said the only road home, over the Water Park Creek about an hour north of Rockhampton, had about a metre of water over it.
“We’re hoping to get out [on Monday], but it’s not looking too good. It might be a little bit longer yet,” Mr Rowe said.
“I’m not even bothered at all, just have a couple of days off work.
“We’re just getting on the beers; it’s the only thing you can do.”
Mr Rowe said the family had not considered calling emergency services because they had enough supplies for a few days.
He said they had also been closely monitoring the creek’s water levels.
“We don’t need to worry about a rescue. We’ll just wait until the creek goes down and drive out,” he said.
He said he did not want the rains to get in the way of his mother’s birthday.
“We’ve never been when it rains. Usually, we stay away, but we didn’t have much choice this weekend, being my mum’s birthday, we had already planned, and it all went pear-shaped.”