‘Neck deep’: Farmer feared worst while floating in floodwaters for hours

A Sunshine Coast farmer is counting his blessings after spending Tuesday night in neck-deep water as his animals and family heirlooms floated away.

A Sunshine Coast farmer is counting his blessings after spending Tuesday night in neck-deep water as his animals and family heirlooms floated away.

Justin Schooneman woke about 1am to his bed rocking in floodwater which had inundated his Belli Park home within two hours of going to sleep.

He jumped out of bed into knee deep water, realising his life was in danger.

“I couldn’t see my elderly dog so I turned my torch on and he was floating through the living room on his rug, still asleep,” Mr Schooneman said.

He called emergency services twice in 20 minutes, reiterating the seriousness of his situation as water rose to his waist within 20 minutes.

Rescue crews struggled to find a safe route to his property due to the intense rainfall and flooding.

Mr Schooneman clung to his floating dining table and within another 20 minutes the water rose to his shoulders.

His sliding glass door busted under the pressure and more water poured into his home.

“I rang the operator again to tell her I needed to get out and she asked if I could get onto the roof because all the roads around me were under water,” he said.

“But the water was going past my place so fast that if I stepped outside I was gone.”

Mr Schooneman said he sat tight until 5am when he spotted someone in a neighbouring paddock and flashed his torch.

Justin Schooneman, pictured with partner Julia Walker, spent the night neck-deep in water after his Sunshine Coast hinterland home flooded. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“Two minutes later I heard this outboard engine and a tinnie came screaming across my paddock which is normally very dry,” he said.

He grabbed his dogs, and his wallet and hopped in the boat which took him to safety.

A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said swiftwater rescue crews assisted Mr Schooneman about 6am.

Mr Schooneman said he felt lucky on Wednesday despite losing livestock, hot houses for his new flower farm and sentimental possessions.

“I feel extremely guilty that I didn’t get my chooks out in time,” he said.

“I watched my great grandmother’s cookbook, which was 150 years old, float passed me and it had handwritten notes from her in Dutch.

“They’re the things that can’t be replaced but the rest can.

“It’s heartbreaking but one of the reasons I’m in good spirits is because I know at least the work can all be redone.”

Given the rain forecast, Mr Schooneman had marked his creeks before going to bed but he never expected the downpour his Skyring Creek Rd property received, not far from where another local was swept to her death.

Mr Schooneman said storms often split over the nearby ridge and missed their neighbourhood.

“But these two big storm cells slammed into the ridge last night and stopped dead over our property,”

“We got in the vicinity of 300mm in 40 to 50 minutes.

“That was never going to run anywhere else.”