Bruce Hwy crash and car into floodwater on Sunshine Coast
First responders have detailed the moment they found a man struggling in a flooded waterhole on the Sunshine Coast as wild weather continues to lash the region.
Sunshine Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sunshine Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
First responders have detailed a harrowing rescue of a man who nearly drowned in a Sunshine Coast waterhole as wild weather continues to lash the region.
Maroochydore Fire Station officer Peter Watson said the man was in trouble in the top end of Coochin Creek, in Beerwah, and managed to alert young schoolchildren nearby by yelling.
The swimming hole is at Maidenhair Dr and emergency services were called about 1.50pm.
He was found by swift water rescue crews clinging to a tree.
Mr Watson said the man, believed to be an “adventurer”, was “fatiguing very fast” and was very cold in the treacherous water, but crews quickly reached him with an inflatable raft and pulled him from the water using ropes.
“We made sure he was secure and he had a personal flotation device on him we gave him, and then we brought him back to the bank safely,” Mr Watson said.
“If the locals hadn’t been alerted to his screams it might have gone a little bit differently.”
Mr Watson said people to being caught in floodwater was a dangerous situation.
“We’ve had a lot of close calls and it’s not something we want to be engaging in unless we absolutely have to,” he said.
The man was taken in a stable condition to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
The wet weather has wreaked havoc across the Sunshine Coast.
Earlier, Michelle Halvorsen Voss shared a video to Facebook showing floodwater flowing out to sea near the third lagoon on Bribie Island.
She said her camping trip was rained out and she was waiting for park rangers to let her through the inland track.
Emergency services responded to a multi-vehicle crash near the Bruce Hwy on-ramp at Cooroy, as well as a car that entered floodwater at Collins Rd, Ninderry this morning.
Paramedics also responded to a vehicle run off the road on the Sunshine Mwy at Peregian Springs about 11.45am.
A Queensland Police spokesman said the car ran off the road and hit a tree.
The incidents came after the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of the Sunshine Coast including Caloundra, Palmwoods, Nambour, Crohamhurst, and Maleny about 10am, which was later cancelled.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman said the crash at Cooroy caused a lane of the highway to be closed.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said that paramedics looked over three people at the scene, all of whom were in stable conditions.
“Paramedics transported one patient in a stable condition to Nambour Hospital,” the spokeswoman said.
Emergency services were also called to a crash at Caloundra Rd, Meridan Plains, about 9.10am today.
The four-vehicle crash happened near the turn-off to the Sunshine Coast Turf Club and no one was trapped.
A fire spokeswoman said firefighters assisted police with traffic diversions.
An ambulance spokeswoman said no one was injured in that crash.
At Ninderry, emergency services found a vehicle that had been driven into floodwaters.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said that all occupants of the vehicle were able to self-evacuate.
“There were four people who were able to self-evacuate out of the vehicle,” the spokesman said.
QFES has four crews on the way to reports of yet another vehicle stuck in water on the Sunshine Coast.
They were called to the incident at 12.40pm on Eudlo Flats Rd, Forest Glen.
Floodwater has also engulfed Commissioners Flat Rd at Peachester, cutting it completely.
More to come.
Liquidator looks at transactions of $350m surf park’s director
The developer behind a proposed $350m surf park and resort complex on the Sunshine Coast paid himself more than $600k in a series of possibly voidable transactions, prior to the collapse of his company, liquidators claim.
Family’s French patisserie plans rejected by Noosa Council
A family’s dream of opening a French bakery has been thwarted by the Noosa Council as they moved to reject the minor change application despite concerns of fairness and transparency.