Nolan Meats worker Phil Sugg, 37, (pictured) lost his life after his car was swept away in floodwaters in Gympie, north of Brisbane on Friday night
A father-of-three has been identified as the latest victim of Queensland’s once-in-a-generation storm deluge – as residents in sixteen Brisbane suburbs were warned major flooding could reach their homes within hours.
Nolan Meats worker Phil Sugg, 37, disappeared in floodwaters while driving along Tin Can Bay Road in Gympie, 150km north of the Queensland capital, about 10pm on Friday night.
Police dive squad officers found his body in flood waters in nearby Goomboorian on Saturday afternoon after an extensive land and air search.
A colleague said the father and ex-Gympie State High School student had recently been promoted to team leader at Nolan Meats and was ‘well liked by the boys on the slaughter floor’, reported The Courier Mail.
The 37-year-old is the fifth person in Queensland to lose their life in this week’s floods, which has been caused by a slow-moving low pressure trough sitting over the NSW/ Queensland border for the past five days.
Authorities warned six-hourly rainfall totals of 300mm are possible overnight while the state’s south east prepares for another 24 hours of life-threatening rain.
Water levels in Gympie are already worse than the 2011 and 2013 floods, according to the Bureau of Meteorology – while the Sunshine Coast is expected to endure its heaviest rain event since 1992.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on Saturday evening issued a flood warning for 16 suburbs across the city as the Brisbane River threatens to burst its banks.
Police divers found the father-of-three’s (pictured) body and car near Goomboorian on Saturday afternoon after an extensive land and air search
Merryl Dray, 62, – a member of the Lowood SES Group – drowned while trying to help a family escape floodwaters at Coolana, west of Brisbane, on Friday night
‘There’s concerns that overnight flows from the upper catchments into the Brisbane River, combined with possible Wivenhoe Dam releases, will coincide with tomorrow morning’s high tide,’ Mr Schrinner wrote on Twitter.
He warned properties in Brisbane City, Bulimba, Hamilton, Milton, New Farm, Newstead, Norman Park, Oxley, Rocklea, South Brisbane, St Lucia, Teneriffe, Toowong, West End, Windsor and Yeronga were at risk of flooding.
Mr Shrinner said the estimate includes situations where flood water may enter the front or backyard of a property, but does not necessarily enter the home.
He urged affected residents to prepare for potential flooding and know when it’s time to evacuate the area.
Evacuation centres will open from 6am Sunday for residents displaced by floods at Chandler in Brisbane’s outer south-east.
The military has also been brought in to assist in rescues across the state’s south east, with three MHR-90 Taipan helicopters commissioned for rescue operations.
As of 6am Saturday, Brisbane received up to 206mm of rainfall, making it the city’s wettest day since 1974.
The deluge brings the city’s total rainfall to 322.2mm, equalling two months worth of rain in the span of four days.
Gympie has been completely inundated by floodwaters, with aerial footage showing the town swamped by rising water, the main road cut off and buildings submerged.
A Queensland town is underwater and five people have died as the worst flooding in 30 years hits the state – as 2,000 calls were made for help. Pictured are the floodwaters near Gympie
SES crews are pictured on Saturday monitoring traffic on roads damaged by flood waters in the state’s south-east
Six-hourly rainfall of 300mm is possible overnight while the state’s south east prepares for another 24 hours of life-threatening rain (pictured, the flooding near Gympie)
The Bureau of Meteorology warned of a dangerous unfolding weather event in south-east Queensland. Major flood warnings are marked above in red
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned of intense rainfall across Hervey Bay to the Gold Coast and west to Toowoomba on Saturday via Twitter
The Bureau of Meteorology expects floodwater levels to continue rising and beat the record 21.95m set in 1999.
More than 300mm of rain fell in multiple areas around Brisbane, the Lockyer Valley and Sunshine Coast.
At Mt Glorious, north west of Brisbane, 690mm of rain fell in the ten hours from 9am Friday.
The SES received more than 2,000 calls for help and carried out 132 swift water rescues in the last 24 hours across the impacted region.
The five deaths also include an SES volunteer who died while attempting to rescue a family trapped by floodwaters at Coolana, west of Brisbane, on Friday.
Merryl Dray, 62, – a member of the Lowood SES Group – died when her vehicle was swept away as she tried to help a family escape rising floodwaters at Coolana, west of Brisbane, on Friday night.
Forensic Crash Unit officers are investigating the incident.
The body of a 55-year-old Camp Hill man was discovered at Stones Corner, south of Brisbane, at 1.30am on Saturday.
Gympie, north of Brisbane, was completely inundated by floodwaters on Saturday
Aerial footage shows the town swamped by rising waters with the main road cut off and buildings submerged
The regional city has been battered by heavy rain since the start of the weekend as the downpour rips across southern Queensland
A 54-year-old man was killed when trying to ride a motorbike through rising water at Gympie and a 63-year-old woman’s body was found in a submerged car on the Sunshine Coast during the week.
Major flood warnings have been issued for Mary and Mooloolah rivers, Maroochy and Noosa rivers, Upper Brisbane and Stanley rivers and the Bremer River, along with Laidley, Lockyer and Warrill creeks.
‘In some parts of south east Queensland, this is the biggest event that they will see in a number of decades and the rain has not stopped. In fact, there are some parts where it is intensifying,’ Police Minister Mark Ryan said on Saturday morning.
A Queensland SES volunteer who was on his way to rescue a family stranded in flood waters has died as wild weather continues to batter the state and NSW
Already saturated catchments are increasing the flood risk and Mr Ryan advised people to take extra caution in the coming days.
‘I need everyone out there to be making sensible decisions,’ he says.
Residents in the Lockyer Valley town of Grantham, where a three-metre wall of water swept through and devastated the community in 2011, heard flood sirens on Friday as residents of low-lying areas were told to move to higher ground.
Six people took refuge on the roofs of homes as emergency crews made plans to rescue them, with the weather so severe aircraft was unable to assist.
The deaths come after a family was rescued by helicopter, the SES responded to hundreds of calls for help and more flood warnings were issued for Queensland and severe thunderstorms forecast for NSW (pictured, a car is towed from a flood road in Oxley on Saturday)
More than a month’s worth of rain fell in 24 hours in parts of the southeast (pictured, flooding in Gympie, Queensland)
A family watches rising waters in Goodna, near the City of Ipswich on Saturday
A family watches flood waters rise along Tiger Street in Ipswich, south-west of Brisbane, on Saturday
‘The evolution of this system and its relatively slow movement will continue to cause significant and prolonged impacts across south east Queensland over the weekend,’ the bureau warns.
Locally intense rainfall that could lead to dangerous flash flooding is possible, and could heighten the risk of landslides.
Motorists are warned to take care on the roads with debris likely.
A family-of-five and their dog were retrieved by helicopter from their home in a regional area southwest of Gympie after it was cut off by rising waters in both directions on Friday afternoon.
The family guided rescuers from the Sunshine Coast RACQ LifeFlight Rescue using coordinates, and were rescued about 1.45pm.
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