Hinchinbrook floods: Pair rescued from vehicle in floodwaters near Ingham

A woman in her 90s returning home after surgery in Townsville was rescued from neck-high floodwaters after the car she was in left the Bruce Highway during severe weather.

Queensland Fire and Rescue Swiftwater Rescue technicians Hal Tucker and Ron Arends (centre), both station officers at South Townsville Fire Station, flanked by firefighter Anthony Reay and senior firefighter Scott Ayoub. The four-man crew were called into action on their way to Ingham during the severe weather event on Tuesday. Picture: Cameron Bates

A woman in her 90s returning to her Hinchinbrook home after surgery in Townsville was rescued from near neck-high floodwaters in dramatic circumstances after the vehicle she was a passenger in left the Bruce Highway.

Swift Water Rescue technicians Hal Tucker and Ron Arends, both station officers at South Townsville Fire Station, were part of a four-person crew deployed to Ingham in the aftermath of torrential downpours overnight Monday and on Tuesday.

Mr Tucker said the crew drove head-long into a potentially life-and-death situation on the Bruce Highway at Helens Hill at 6.30pm.

“There was a four-wheel drive in the middle of the road with its hazard lights on and to the left of that was a Mazda3 with floodwater half-way up its windows.”

He said the lads in the utility vehicle were already assisting one of the two elderly occupants from the inundated vehicle, which had driven into deep water off the side of the flood-prone highway.

“When we got there, he said that there was a 94-year-old lady, the mother of the lady they were helping out, still in the car.”

Widespread surface flooding has impacted parts of Ingham on Tuesday, with the flooding Seymour River cutting the Bruce Highway to the north of the Hinchinbrook town. Picture: Cameron Bates

The experienced firefighter said the rescue crew were told that the woman, trapped in the vehicle in floodwaters up to just below her neck for as long as 15 minutes, was returning home to Ingham after surgery at Mater Hospital Townsville.

“I went out to get a quick assessment of the car to see if I could assist and then together as a team we launched the raft to use it to assist getting her out and we then lifted her out of the car and brought her to the highway,” Mr Tucker said.

He said the elderly woman of Italian ethnicity did not speak English so they relied on the daughter to translate during an initial patient assessment.

“She was very scared, she’d been in the water for at least 10 to 15 minutes so we were very worried about her core temperature, she’s only tiny, the water was up to her shoulders,” he said.

“We wrapped her in a space blanket to help maintain her core body temperature, had her wrapped up in some spare towels underneath an umbrella.”

He said the rescue demonstrated the seamless interoperability of Swift Water and other emergency services.

Widespread surface flooding has impacted parts of Ingham on Tuesday, with the flooding Seymour River cutting the Bruce Highway to the north of the Hinchinbrook town. Picture: Cameron Bates

QAS confirmed on Wednesday that it had taken a female patient in her 90s to Ingham Hospital in a stable condition.

“One female patient in her 70s declined transport to hospital,” a spokesperson said.

Mr Tucker, who played a key coordination role during the Hinchinbrook disaster in early February, said both himself and Mr Arends had only just returned to Townsville following an event filled nine-day deployment in Ipswich during Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Ingham recorded more than 200mm of rain in the 24 hours to 7.30am on Wednesday, with Macknade and Halifax recording 212mm and 224mm respectively during the same period.

The Cardwell Gap in the Cardwell Range near where the Bruce Highway remained severed at the Seymour River Bridge as of Wednesday afternoon recorded 174mm.

Ingham Police and Ambulance services respond to a vehicle accident outside Ingham Hospital. Picture: Cameron Bates

EARLIER: Elderly motorists in dramatic flood rescue

Emergency services were involved in the dramatic rescue of two elderly motorists, one aged in her 90s, from floodwaters in the Hinchinbrook as rain continued to lash the district overnight.

Queensland Ambulance Service confirmed on Wednesday morning that paramedics responded to reports that the pair were trapped in their vehicle in floodwaters on Pombell Road, Helens Hill, at 6.41pm.

The road is just off the Bruce Highway south of Ingham.

Queensland Police Service have been contacted for details of the rescue but it is understood that at least one of the victims may have been standing in floodwaters up to her neck for 20 minutes before she was rescued.

A QAS spokesperson said the two women were eventually safely rescued.

“One female patient in her 70s declined transport to hospital,” they said.

“One female patient in her 90s was transported to Ingham Hospital in a stable condition.”

The flooded Bruce Highway at the Seymour River Bridge north of Ingham on Wednesday morning. The notoriously flood-prone highway remains severed to all traffic. Picture: Supplied

In a separate incident, a male in his 30s suffered minor injuries after his vehicle rolled on Peri St in neighbouring Toobanna, also just off the Bruce Highway, later that evening at 9.18pm.

He was taken to Ingham Hospital in a stable condition.

It is not known if the incident was weather related.

Widespread surface flooding has impacted parts of Ingham on Tuesday, with the flooding Seymour River cutting the Bruce Highway to the north of the Hinchinbrook town. Picture: Cameron Bates

Ingham recorded more than 200mm of rain in the last 24 hours as of 7.30am on Wednesday, with Macknade and Halifax recording 212mm and 224mm respectively.

The Cardwell Gap in the Cardwell Range near where the Bruce Highway remains cut recorded 174mm.

Widespread surface flooding has impacted parts of Ingham on Tuesday, with the flooding Seymour River cutting the Bruce Highway to the north of the Hinchinbrook town. Picture: Cameron Bates

A number of local roads are covered by floodwaters and cut off, although water levels are receding.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued its latest severe weather warning for Hinchinbrook Shire at 5.10am.

“Convergence between a very humid north-easterly flow from the Coral Sea and a south-easterly wind surge pushing up the central Queensland coast has strengthened overnight and will remain in place (Wednesday) morning,” BOM said.

“This will lead to a continuation of heavy showers and a few thunderstorms about the coast and ranges of the Herbert and Lower Burdekin district.”

Widespread surface flooding has impacted parts of Ingham on Tuesday, with the flooding Seymour River cutting the Bruce Highway to the north of the Hinchinbrook town. Picture: Cameron Bates

A moderate flood warning remains in place for the lower Herbert River at Halifax.

More to come.

Originally published as Hinchinbrook floods: Pair rescued from vehicle in floodwaters near Ingham