Woman dies after vehicle is swept away in floodwaters in Pullenvale

A woman has died after her vehicle was swept away in floodwaters in Brisbane’s west.

A 75-year-old woman from Taringa has died after her vehicle became submerged in floodwaters in Brisbane’s west on Wednesday afternoon.

Police responded to calls at 4.40pm after a sedan was swept off Lancing St in Pullenvale into a nearby creek due to moving floodwaters.

Emergency services including police, fire, rescue swift water crews, dive squad and Polair completed an extensive search for the car.

The woman was found deceased inside the vehicle about three hours after emergency services were alerted to the incident.

Police say a tree had also fallen onto the car as it was swept away in the flood water, causing damage to the vehicle.

Storms rolling towards Ipswich. Picture:Jaz Urraarii Papuni

Queensland Police Inspector Daniel Bragg gave some comments from the scene yesterday afternoon.

“The floodwaters rose very quickly in the area and they were treacherous,” he said.

“We couldn’t actually get to the vehicle for a while, it was quite submerged but we did get a swiftwater boat to it.”

The woman was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle.

Forensic Crash Investigations are ongoing.

The tragedy came as wild weather swept through the South East.

Flash flooding was reported in Beaudesert, where 71mm fell in the hour to 2pm.

The town’s main street was inundated while multiple homes were impacted.

“Brisbane Street was cut for a period of time,” a Scenic Rim SES representative said.

“Multiple homes were impacted.

“There was a large amount of water that fell very quickly leading to minor flooding.”

The M1 Highway at Mudgeeraba slows to a crawl after heavy rain caused partial flooding of north bound lanes. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Scott Powick

There were also reports of water over a number of roads across the South East, including the Ipswich Motorway and Brisbane Terrace at Goodna, and Wilruna St at Wacol. Railway lines were also being impacted.

The Gold Coast was first hit with intense rain, thunder and lightning from 1pm as the beginning of a series of storm cells moved across the South East.

Showers and potentially more severe storms are forecast for the South East today, with Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast all on alert.