A pet dog swept away in a flooded creek after Cyclone Alfred has been found
A Queensland family is grieving after flash flooding resulting from Ex Tropical Cyclone Alfred claimed the life of their pet maltese terrier.
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The body of a little white dog washed away in floodwaters earlier this week has been found.
Andy Gray said he had been looking for their dog, Holly Poppins, since Monday after his partner Kaye Flounders and the dog were swept away in a part of Eudlo.
“Yesterday we lost our world, little Holly Poppins, in the flood waters. Whilst Kaye is very lucky to be alive, which we’re very grateful for it doesn’t take away the grief,” he posted to Facebook on Tuesday.
He called for Sunshine Coast locals to assist with searching for Holly that afternoon.
But on Thursday morning, Mr Gray informed the community the maltese terrier had been found.
“Yesterday we found Holly with her angel wings on. Found by her Aunty Jess which is no surprise,” he wrote.
“She had a warm shower and can now rest. Grateful to have her home so we can make arrangements.”
Mr Gray declined to comment on Thursday, saying the couple had just returned from the crematorium and needed “to decompress.”
He also said they were “incredibly overwhelmed by the community.”
Rainfalls of more than 400mm were recorded in some areas across the Sunshine Coast by Monday morning as a result of Ex Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
In the 24 hours from 9am Sunday, 344mm of rain fell in Nambour, Eudlo copped a 346mm downpour overnight while the Palm Woods Sports Ground recorded 352mm by 7am Monday.
Nearby Diamond Valley received 433mm.
The intense rainfall led to widespread flash flooding, as well as localised rapid creek and river level rises throughout the Sunshine Coast hinterland areas.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli on Monday said there had been 17 swift water rescues overnight Sunday throughout southeast Queensland following the massive downpour.
Eudlo, a rural Sunshine Coast town with a population of about 1900, saw its biggest flash flood in decades after Eudlo Creek burst its banks in the early hours of Monday morning.
A Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said one of their swift water teams rescued a woman who was clinging to a tree in floodwater along Eudlo School Road after escaping her car about 5.45am Monday.
The spokeswoman said another swift water crew evacuated families from two homes on nearby McGilchrest and Anzac roads as the water rushed through the township just before 6am.
“Our crews assisted two people from one address and three people and a dog from another address,” she said.
Situated in a valley below the Blackall Ranges, Eudlo is about a 30 minute drive from and below the scenic tourist mountain towns of Montville and Maleny.
The four main roads of the former timber town sit between two arms of Eudlo Creek.
A feeder tributary, Eudlo Creek joins the Maroochy River – which has its headwaters in the mountains – close to the coastal suburb of Maroochydore.
The Maroochy River flows into the Coral Sea, meaning Eudlo Creek can also be affected by ocean tides on top of it burgeoning from swollen rivers as they flow down the mountains.
Eudlo General Store owner Jason Coolen said the rain deluge received overnight Sunday caused a torrent of water to suddenly swallow the town centre.
“It was coming in quick,” he said.
“(The store is) next to Eudlo Creek where a woman got rescued.
“There’s another creek next to (Eudlo State School) and water from that creek also came rushing down the hill.
“They were getting 350mm in a couple of hours, so it was crazy figures.”
Mr Coolen, 54, of Mooloolaba, said the water inundated yards and, in some cases inside, several houses on the town’s four main roads.
He said the general store, on Rosebed Street, was spared thanks to sandbags and the building being higher than some of the houses.
When he arrived early Monday to check on the shop, Mr Coolen saw families being evacuated from their homes as the swollen creek water lapped at their front doors.
Nearby, a different QFD swift water team had just rescued a woman clinging to a tree in Eudlo Creek, about 50m from the store, after she had escaped her car.
Mr Coolen claimed the woman later came into the business and told him she had been looking at her GPS when she and a dog suddenly ended up in the swollen Eudlo Creek.
“She hit the floodwater so put her dog in a backpack (to try to get her out),” he said.
“The lady then went through the window but she got sucked under the bridge in the floodwater, and lost the dog and the backpack.
“She was lucky to be saved.”
The business owner said the woman and her partner later placed a lost dog poster in the store window, but returned to take it down about 4pm Wednesday, saying they had found their pet deceased.
“They found the dog down the river, about 100m down,” Mr Coolen said.
He said the backpack was also found, separate to the dog.
About the same time that woman was clinging to tree unbeknown to most residents, Michael Parente and his partner were madly trying to inflate a stand up paddle board in a house nearby.
If needed, the couple had planned to use it as a flotation device if the rapidly rising water started to inundate their Anzac Road home.
Mr Parente, 30, was woken about 4am Monday by the “intense sounds of the storm.”
Within seconds he started hearing loud cracks so grabbed a torch and headed outside to investigate.
“It was so loud I couldn’t tell where it was coming from,” he said.
“I later found out that it was a fence breaking and being ripped away from the force of the flood.”
The business owner said the woman and her partner later placed a lost dog poster in the store window, but returned to take it down about 4pm Wednesday, saying they had found their pet deceased.
“They found the dog down the river, about 100m down,” Mr Coolen said.
He said the backpack was also found, separate to the dog.
About the same time that woman was clinging to tree unbeknown to most residents, Michael Parente and his partner were madly trying to inflate a stand up paddle board in a house nearby.
If needed, the couple had planned to use it as a flotation device if the rapidly rising water started to inundate their Anzac Road home.
Mr Parente, 30, was woken about 4am Monday by the “intense sounds of the storm.”
Within seconds he started hearing loud cracks so grabbed a torch and headed outside to investigate.
“It was so loud I couldn’t tell where it was coming from,” he said.
“I later found out that it was a fence breaking and being ripped away from the force of the flood.”
Rapidly rising black water going “incredibly fast” greeted the two-year Eudlo resident upon opening the front door.
With one of the town’s two creeks behind their house, Mr Parente said the water went from about 40cm up the front stairs to about 1m within a short time frame.
“I was trying to make an educated guess as to if it was going to get inside the house and how if how fast it was rising,” he said.
“It was hard to judge … I also looked up the high tides and high tide hadn’t hit yet, so I knew it would keep rising.”
Mr Parente said he, his partner – who asked not to be named – and her six-year-old daughter had only returned home Sunday after staying elsewhere in anticipation of Ex Cyclone Alfred.
“As part of our flood prep, we had left the house on Friday and came back on Sunday because we thought it was safe to come back,” he said.
The couple soon realised the water was barging through the town too quickly to use the paddle board.
“Fast enough to tear a wooden fence apart,” Mr Parente said.
His family gratefully accepted an offer to evacuate when a QFD swift water rescue team arrived about 6am.
The crew brought their raft as close as possible to the house with two of the four men getting into the water to help evacuate the family, including their two-year-old border collie, Honey.
One carried the child to the boat on his back, another carried Honey, with Mr Parente and his partner following behind.
The family was dropped up a hill on Ilkley Rd.
“It was probably only about 600m, but that was 600m through brown sewerage and fast moving water,” Mr Parente said.
On return to their home Tuesday, the computer engineer said debris ranging from tennis racquets to tyres to “sewerage-ridden bicycles” was strewn throughout their yard.
Thanks to sandbags, the three bedroom house remained dry inside.
By Monday, Queensland Fire and Rescue swift water rescue firefighters had responded to more than 150 water-related calls in 24 hours, including rescues and evacuations across the Sunshine Coast, Ipswich and Brisbane.
Several of the calls were related to cars stuck in floodwater.
Members of the SES received 77 requests in the region during the same 24 hours, mostly regarding homes impacted by the rain.
Throughout southeast Queensland, QFD crews responded to 1408 call outs related to Ex Tropical Cyclone Alfred between 6am March 2 to 4.30am March 12.
Included in that number were 82 people rescued and 89 who were evacuated.
The SES received more than 13,000 requests for assistance throughout southeast Queensland from February 27, when the cyclone was first anticipated to hit the coast, through to March 12.
From 6am Tuesday to midday Wednesday, the SES received a further 500 requests for assistance, most relating to trees down, or damaged or leaking buildings.
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