439.4mm: One Dead, Six Campers Rescued in Queensland Floods

Residents across Queensland are dealing with flooded rivers and closed roads after four days of heavy rain, and emergency services have responded to two separate incidents on Monday. A man was found unresponsive in a creek, while six campers were pulled from a campground as waters rose around them.

Queensland police said emergency services were called shortly after 11am on Monday to a creek at Boompa, on the Fraser Coast, after reports a man had been found. He was located in Smothering Creek on Boompa Road and declared dead. Police have opened an investigation and will prepare a report for the coroner.

South of there, Queensland Fire and Rescue Swiftwater crews were called at 7.45am to a public campground in Leyburn in the Southern Downs region. By about 11.15am, they had brought three men aged 71, 47 and 26 and two women aged 68 and 26 to safety. Police said there were no reports of physical injuries.

Rain fell from Thursday to Monday across Queensland, flooding rivers and roads through the south and east of the state. Blackdown Tableland, near Rockhampton, recorded 439.4mm over the four days to early Monday, the highest total in the state. Lower Springbrook near the Gold Coast logged 325.2mm, Nambour near the Sunshine Coast 314.2mm, and Brooweena, inland of K'gari, 299.6mm.

On Monday, police reported flash flooding at Laidley Creek and Glenore Grove in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, closing some roads. Flood warnings are current for Warrill Creek and the Bremer River in the Lockyer Valley, the Macintyre and Moonie rivers in the south, the Mary River near the Sunshine Coast, and western Queensland systems including the Warrego River at Charleville, the Bulloo River at Quilpie and the Barcoo River at Blackall.

Meteorologist Angus Hines of the Bureau of Meteorology called the system unusual, pointing to widespread rain bands, heavy cloud cover and cooler temperatures. "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," Hines said. On Sunday evening, thunderstorms were briefly linked from southern Queensland to Bass Strait as a fast-moving system tracked toward the east coast. The bureau said conditions were expected to return to typical spring patterns through the week, with hot and humid days giving way to more subdued afternoon showers and storms.