More residents have been evacuated from their homes as the flood emergency continues to grow in south-east Queensland and the rain system tracks south towards northern New South Wales.
The flooding has so far killed six people in Queensland and one person in NSW in the past few days.
The deluge continued on Sunday with a severe thunderstorm warning issued for the northern regions of Brisbane, and major flood warnings in place for numerous rivers including the Upper Brisbane, Stanley, Mary, Logan, Bremer and Mooloolah rivers.
The town of Gympie recorded its highest flood level in more than a century, with the Mary River still rising rapidly, while more than 1.4m of rain was recorded at Mount Glorious, north-west of Brisbane, in the 72 hours to Sunday morning.
Early on Sunday, residents in low-lying areas of Ipswich were told to evacuate their homes, after authorities began releasing water from Wivenhoe Dam at 4am.
In 2011, releases from Wivenhoe contributed to flooding in Brisbane and Ipswich, although according to Seqwater on Sunday the dam still had 2m megalitres of flood capacity.
Queensland police said a 34-year-old Moorooka man died in flood waters at Indooroopilly in the early hours of Sunday, the sixth death in Queensland during the recent floods.
“About 2.30am, the man managed to free himself from his car which had become submerged in flood waters on Witton Road,” police said in a statement. “The man attempted to swim to safety, however nearby residents raised the alarm when he failed to surface from the water.”
His body was located by emergency services a short time later.
It was the second death in Brisbane after a man was killed in Stones Corner on Friday night. There have been two deaths in Gympie, one in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, and a State Emergency Service worker who died while trying to rescue a family at Coolana west of Ipswich.
Brad Commens, an assistant commissioner for the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, warned residents across south-east Queensland to remain home where possible.
“We’re still in the grips of a very significant severe weather event. We’ve had continual rain right from the north coast through to Brisbane, the south coast and out to Toowoomba overnight,” he told the Nine network.
“This event is still continuing and we would just ask people to stay home. Stay safe. Today is not the time to be doing disaster tourism or storm tourism, just to see what’s out there.”
Nearly 1,000 roads remained closed across south-east Queensland, including the Bruce Highway in both directions between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and the Warrego Highway between Brisbane and Toowoomba.
Brisbane City Council said on Saturday night that its modelling suggested several thousand properties would be at risk on Sunday morning.
Seven hundred residents were evacuated from Gympie on Saturday afternoon with the region receiving another 200mm of rain on Saturday.
The state disaster coordinator, Steve Gollschewski, said the evacuation order was given in order to get people to safety during daylight hours.
“We have got contingency planning in place on the ground up there so that we have pre-deployed there with water rescue and water police [and] we are able to operate in that area once the flooding comes through, but it is much safer for everybody if we move sooner,” he said.
Flood warnings were also issued for northern NSW on Sunday, with six-hour rainfalls of 250mm possible. With the weather system tracking south, there were warnings in place for flooding at locations including Lismore, Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Tenterfield, Murwillumbah, Yamba, Maclean, Woolgoolga, Sawtell and Dorrigo.
On Saturday afternoon, police recovered the body of a man who went missing in flood waters at Goomboorian, near Gympie, overnight. The 37-year-old was located by police divers after an extensive search, the ABC reported.
The death of the SES volunteer was reported overnight on Friday. The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services commissioner, Greg Leach, said the volunteer had died after the SES vehicle they were travelling in, as part of a crew of four, was swept off the road into flood waters near Ipswich.
“Three of our members were rescued, one of those members is deceased,” Leach said. “We pass on our condolences to family, friends and loved ones.”
Leach said it was a “very sad day” for emergency services.
The Queensland emergency services minister, Mark Ryan, said SES volunteers routinely put the lives of others before their own.
“We remember that volunteer, we grieve that volunteer’s loss, but also we pay tribute to their service and their life,” Ryan said.
This is Gympie’s town centre this morning. The Mary River is at 20.71 metres and still rising, yet to peak. More rain is on the way for surrounding catchments. @7NewsBrisbane @7NewsWideBay @7NewsSC pic.twitter.com/YeTSDMIrtF
— Anna McGraw (@annamcgraw_7) February 25, 2022
Additional reporting Ben Smee
