A woman was carried to safety from the roof of her house and several other members of the community were rescued from floodwaters after torrential storms ravaged the Sunshine Coast and hinterland overnight.
The woman was taken to safety from her home in Boreen Point by a rescue helicopter at around 3.30am (AEST) Feb 25.
Earlier in the evening, another rescue had taken place in the region’s hinterland less then 100km away. Authorities noticed a 30-year-old woman was holding onto a tree at Harpers Creek Bridge, Conondale, south-west of Nambour, at around 8:00pm (AEST).
In an incident at Pomona, four people were rescued from inside a bus.
The ABC quoted a Bureau of Meteorology spokewoman as saying some parts of the hinterland collected more than 140 millimetres of rain overnight.
“It was extremely intense, particularly in the Nambour area and on the Sunshine Coast hinterland further west,” says Michelle Berry.
“[At] Nambour, our automatic weather station recorded about 108 millimetres in one hour.
Local emergency services responded to almost 180 calls for help across the Sunshine Coast until 7.30am.
Tewantin was the worst affected, receiving up to 52 requests for emergency help. Cooroy, Coolum, Maroochydore and Caloundra each received 12 requests.
Cooroy recorded 335 millimetres from 9am Friday to 4am Saturday, while at Noosa Heads, there was 263 millimetres.
The damage resulted in 2,500 homes in the area without power says the ABC.
No serious injuries have yet been reported according to The Brisbane Times.
Alan Rogers from the Sunshine Coast Regional Council told the ABC a local disaster management centre is monitoring the situation.
“The plan is that we‘ll run the centre until midday Saturday when we believe the forecast is that the rain will ease and we’ll then reassess the situation,” says Alan Rogers, Sunshine Coast Regional Council.
Rain and several isolated thunderstorms are predicted to move inland overnight.
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