Qld: Flash floods cause choas
03 Apr 2009 8:33 AM
BRISBANE, April 3 AAP - Children have been stranded at school, tourists have spent the night in a bus and cars have been caught in swollen creeks after severe weather caused flash flooding in southeast Queensland.
A swift water rescue team plucked three people from the roof of their car on Thursday night at Tewantin near Noosa.
It was one of 150 call outs during Thursday night that kept SES volunteers and emergency services working around the clock.
An emergency services spokeswoman said the car was crossing a flooded road when it was swept against a tree.
"When rescuers arrived, only the bonet and roof could be seen," she said.
The worst affected areas were on the Sunshine Coast where 12 tourists spent the night in a bus stranded between two swollen creeks on the Pomona Kin Kin Road.
Dozens of children also stayed overnight at a local school in the small town of Kin Kin while 70 children and eight adults on a school tour were evacuated from Harry's Hut at Noosa National Park.
Police, coast guard, park rangers and SES vessels were used to ferry them down the Noosa River to Boreen Point.
It was midnight before all students and adults were rescued from the flooded reserve. No-one was injured.
Police are warning motorists to not risk driving through flooded crossings particularly in the Sunshine Coast's northern region from Eumundi to Cooran.
Police said there was one metre of water across some roadways.
"All roads around Kin Kin and Pomona are currently flooded, stranding the suburbs," a police spokeswoman said.
