A man has died after being found in floodwater as an unusual weather system brought repeated storms and several days of heavy rain to parts of Australia.
Emergency crews were called to a creek in Boompa, on Queensland’s Fraser Coast, shortly after 11am on Monday following reports that a man was unresponsive.
Queensland Police said the man was located in Smothering Creek, near Boompa Road, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have opened an investigation and will prepare a report for the coroner.
In Queensland’s Southern Downs, six campers were also left stranded by rising floodwater at a public campground in Leyburn.
Queensland Fire and Rescue swift-water specialists were called to the campground at about 7.45am on Monday.
By approximately 11.15am, crews had safely brought out three men aged 71, 47 and 26, along with two women aged 68 and 26.
Queensland Police said no physical injuries were reported.
A man was found dead in a creek at Boompa on Queensland’s Fraser Coast shortly after 11am on Monday, amid widespread flooding across southeast Queensland
From Thursday through Monday, intense rain across Queensland caused rivers to swell and roads to disappear beneath floodwater in the state’s south and east.
Authorities have warned that additional rain could trigger further flooding.
Queensland Police issued a flash-flood warning for Laidley Creek and Glenore Grove in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, after flooding forced the closure of several roads on Monday.
The state’s biggest four-day rainfall total was recorded at Blackdown Tableland, near Rockhampton, where 439.4mm had fallen by early Monday.
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Lower Springbrook, near the Gold Coast, received 325.2mm, while Nambour on the Sunshine Coast recorded 314.2mm.
Brooweena, inland from K’gari, was hit by 299.6mm of rain.
Meteorologist Angus Hines described the weather pattern responsible for the deluge as unusual.
“The widespread rain bands with heaps of cloud cover, much cooler temperatures, and then the storms in that situation are really driven by what’s going on in the higher parts of the atmosphere,” he said.
Queensland Fire and Rescue swift-water crews rescued five campers, including three men aged 71, 47 and 26 and two women aged 68 and 26, from a flooded public campground in Leyburn
Thunderstorms briefly formed a connected band stretching from southern Queensland to Bass Strait on Sunday evening as a fast-moving weather system tracked towards Australia’s east coast.
Driven by powerful winds high in the atmosphere, the storm line moved rapidly across much of the country.
‘But that steering wind sort of just tapered off through the night last night over (Queensland’s) Darling Downs,’ Mr Hines said.
Flood warnings are current for Warrill Creek and the Bremer River in the Lockyer Valley, the Macintyre and Moonie rivers in the south, and the Mary River near the Sunshine Coast.
Western Queensland also remains on alert, with warnings current for the Warrego River at Charleville, the Bulloo River in Quilpie, and the Barcoo River at Blackall.
The Bureau of Meteorology said Queensland’s weather was set to return to more typical spring conditions as the week continued.
Hot and humid days are expected to give way to more subdued afternoon showers and storms.
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