March 7, 2022
A man’s body was located late on Sunday night after he was reported missing when a vehicle was washed off a creek crossing west of Wondai.
A woman who managed to escape the vehicle clung to a tree branch until she was rescued by members of the public.
The woman, aged in her 60s, was assessed by paramedics at the scene but did not require transport to hospital.
Swiftwater rescue crews and other emergency services were despatched to Mp Creek Road at Mp Creek about 5:00pm, after a storm swept through the South Burnett region.
A desperate search then began for the 60-year-old man’s car.
The submerged vehicle – with the man’s body inside – was located about 9:00pm.
Emergency crews were back in action after 11:00pm near Lancasters Road and Silverleaf Road at Byee after another vehicle was caught by flash flooding.
A QFES spokesperson said the driver had managed to escape and was on the roof of the vehicle when swiftwater crews arrived about 11:25pm.
QAS paramedics assessed a man in his 20s at the scene but he was uninjured and did not require transport to hospital.
Flash flooding was reported on a number of roads across the South Burnett in the wake of Sunday evening’s storms: on Wondai-Proston Road at Chelmsford, Wheatlands and Leafdale; Flats Road at Chelmsford and Leafdale; Lancasters Road at Merlwood; and the Burnett Highway at Goomeri.
Trees were also reported down across roads in many areas, with the D’Aguilar Highway blocked by debris for a short time at South Nanango.
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[UPDATED with correction. The woman involved in the Mp Creek incident was not taken to hospital]
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Raw video shot by a South Burnett resident in Kingaroy after the snap storm on Sunday afternoon.
It captures the rushing water on the north-west side of town into Memorial Park and First Avenue.
