Police divers check submerged car as floods continue to rage
Police divers are checking if anyone is trapped in a car that was swept off a causeway north of Toowoomba amid major floods across southern Queensland.
A road inundated by floodwaters at Brookfield in Brisbane's west. (Image: BOM)
Emergency services can’t reach the vehicle which was swept off a causeway and into Oakey Creek at Yalangur, north of Toowoomba, about 10am on Wednesday.
Police divers have been called after rescue crews in boats and a helicopter couldn’t confirm if anyone was inside the car due to the dangerous conditions.
“We are just waiting for the water to recede so we can search the car,” a Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson told AAP.
Crews had earlier on Wednesday rescued occupants of another car spotted in the same creek.
Large parts of southern Queensland are on flood alert amid a continuing deluge that forced 900 people to be evacuated from Inglewood in the Goondiwindi region on Tuesday night.
At the nearby town of Yelarbon, 200 residents are evacuating on Wednesday with seven more communities on high alert due to flooding.
More than 50 gauges recorded 100mm of rain in the past 24 hours in southeast Queensland alone, flooding more than 400 roads in the state.
The State Emergency Service was involved in more than 30 swiftwater rescues and responded to more than 320 calls for help in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday.
Floodwaters are starting to recede in Inglewood, where an emergency was declared on Tuesday night.
“It’s fallen as quickly as it rose, and it rose very, very quickly last night,” Goondiwindi Mayor Lawrence Springborg told AAP.
But the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a major flood warning for the border town of Texas, with the Dumaresq River rising quickly and more rain forecast for Wednesday night.
More than 800 residents are on standby with the river expected to exceed a major flood level of 8m on Wednesday night.
The bureau said the Logan River is flooding at Beaudesert, south of Brisbane, for the second time in four days with water levels expected to peak at 10.2m.
There is also major flooding at Warrill Creek with about 600 residents in Harrisville on alert.
About 870 residents in Taroom are also being warned that the Dawson River could peak above a major flood level of 7m overnight.
Flood warnings have been also issued for the Condamine River, west of Brisbane, with Chinchilla and Warwick on alert.
There are warnings too for the Bremer River southeast of Brisbane, and the Warrego River up to Cunnamulla and Charleville in the state’s far west.
Police Minister Mark Ryan urged people to keep an eye on local weather forecast and not to drive into floodwaters.
