Flood emergency: Woolooga, Goomeri flooded by torrential downpour

Evacuation centres have opened as people and animals were left stranded and a woman spent the night trapped on the roof of her car in communities west of Gympie, which are in the grips of a flooding emergency.

A woman stuck on top of her car in floodwaters for the night and a flooded ute with no sign of its occupants are among the shocking stories to emerge from residents of the Gympie region’s west as its townships have been inundated by a torrential downpour caused by ex-cyclone Seth.

At the town of Woolooga, about 45km northwest of Gympie city, the town hall and local shop had been flooded by at least 60cm of water by 11am Saturday morning.

At Goomeri, 75km west of Gympie, the centre of the town is now underwater.

Nev McSweeney, who has been left stuck at Tansey after travelling to visit his grandchildren Friday night, said the flooding “reminds you of 2013”, the last year Gympie flooded.

“There’s oceans of water,” Mr McSweeny said.

“You can’t get into Goomeri at the moment.”

Mr McSweeny said the downpour had left people and animals stranded.

“There’s been people trapped on their cars here all night,” he said.

One woman had been forced to spend the night on the roof of her ute before being rescued this morning.

“Her car’s still there,” Mr McSweeny said.

There were numerous horses trapped in and around the Tansey Showgrounds too as a result of the downpour, which has cut and washed away roads across the region.

“There’s going to be a lot of road damage up this way (around Tansey and Booubyjean),” he said.

Woolooga resident and deputy mayor Hilary Smerdon said it was the “biggest rainfall I’ve seen” in his 16 years there.

“It’s a once in a lifetime event,” he said.

“The low just moved in and sat there all night,” Mr Smerdon said.

His own property received 540mm of rain.

He said reports had come from across the region of people stranded on car roofs, and fears held for many others.

“There is a ute at Tansey that’s underwater, we’re unsure what’s happened to its occupants.”

Mr Smerdon knew of a farmer rescuing more than a half dozen stranded residents and the Kilkivan Hall was being opened to help guests at the Kilkivan Caravan Park caught out by rising waters from the creek next to Rossmore Rd.

Evacuation centres have established by the Gympie Regional Council at the Goomeri and Kilkivan Halls for Goomeri, Kilkivan and Woolooga residents.