Dramatic rescues have saved Queenslanders from raging floods, including a man pulled high when a passer-by heroically plunged into a torrent.
Amazing footage shows the moment Jamie Dixon swam through the fast-flowing water to reach a struggling man named Leo after hearing his cries for help from the water’s edge.
Leo was tired of battling the Grantham floods in the southeast, repeatedly swaying beneath the surface and shouting “help, I can breathe.”
Mr. Dixon dived, wrapped his arm around Leo and pulled him back as the apparently exhausted man struggled to stand up on his own.
Random observer Jamie Dixon (right) jumped into raging floods in southeastern Queensland to rescue an exhausted man, Leo, who had repeatedly swayed underwater (left).
“I thought I saw someone in the water, and that was it,” Mr Dixon told Seven News.
“I had to walk about 300 meters from the road (through water to get to it). I had to wait to catch my breath to get it.
Asked if he thought he was brave, humble Mr. Dixon said, “I guess so.”
The relieved Leo will spend at least 24 hours in hospital to monitor his condition.
SES workers arrive in Logan by boat to help residents after the river flooded due to heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday (pictured)
Boats swept from their berths collide with ferry stops on the Brisbane River (pictured)
In another Sunshine Coast rescue, a family of three were evacuated by QFES boat after their home in the Glasshouse Mountains was flooded by rapidly rising floods.
“It was over a meter high around the property, so we needed the boat to get out,” said Nicolette Stewart, who lives in the house with her partner Rachel Thompson and their son Noah.
“A man tried to drive through the water and lost his van, and he was just drifting in front of the shore,” she told The Courier Mail.
Ms. Stewart said their house, which they moved into only a month ago, and their belongings were destroyed, but she said she was simply grateful that emergency services had taken her entire family to safety.
Residents watch Logan River flood with several evacuation orders Sunday (pictured)
1000 mm rain bomb continues to deepen the crisis in Queensland and northern New South Wales with tens of thousands of residents without electricity
At the CBD in Brisbane, a man was rescued after fast-moving debris collided with his boat, pierced the hull and swept him down the river, where he hit ferry stops.
The boat docked at Howard Smith Wharves at the CBD when the Brisbane River broke its previous 2013 flood record.
The pontoon loosened, swam down the river, and collided with the boat around 9 p.m.
The houseboat then hit the Holman Street ferry station – tearing off part of the pier – before eventually capsizing.
Emergency services arrived to find the sunken boat and the man floating in the torrent before they could pull him to the river with the help of locals.
He was hospitalized for mild exposure to the elements.
The man was just one of 25 people rescued from the floods in Brisbane on Sunday morning.
In Newmarket on the banks of the Brisbane River, a couple was rescued from their roof, saying the floods were like a “river” flowing through their property.
A man was rescued after his house boat in his harbor and overturned (pictured)
And further north in the Jimpy area, three more people and three domestic dogs were rescued after a flood flooded their home.
The crew of the Sunshine Coast’s RACQ LifeFlight rescue helicopter took off for the Kibong property at around 1:15 p.m. on Saturday.
They drove the occupants by air as the water rose to their knees and all roads were cut off by the floods.
A QAS paramedic was attached to the group as the pilot drifted low above the ground.
Gympie, north of Brisbane, was completely flooded on Saturday (pictured)
Prime Minister Anastasia Palashchuk urges residents to stay in their homes unless evacuated (pictured: Logan River on Sunday)
The first two people were boarded by helicopter in the rescue basket, along with a dog that was firmly attached.
They were taken by ferry to a higher location, where other groups of displaced people had gathered and had access to a road.
The crew repeated the process while the trio and their animals – all unharmed – were on land.
Car almost completely submerged after being washed away by rising floods in Roclea
House flooded in Roclea south of Brisbane on Sunday (pictured)
Queensland Prime Minister Anastasia Palashchuk has called on residents to stay at home in the “relentless” flood crisis that threatens to flood more than 1,400 homes in Brisbane.
Severe weather warnings are in effect for southeastern Queensland and areas in northern NSW as wild weather and dangerous floods continue to hit both states.
Six people have died in Queensland while searching for a yachtsman who went missing in the Brisbane River.
Speaking to the media in Brisbane on Sunday afternoon, Ms Palaszczuk described the rain in the southeastern part of the state as “continuous” and warned that extreme weather was unlikely to calm down for the next 24 hours before moving south.
“I do not want to see more deaths. So please, please, if you don’t have to go out today, just stay home, because this water is inexorable right now, “she said.
“This is a very extreme weather event that we have at the moment.”
People have seen their homes and businesses completely submerged by rising floods as once-a-century meteorological events make their way along Australia’s east coast (pictured: Sunshine Coast Café)
The prime minister expected more than 1,430 homes in the city to be affected as the water rose to more than three meters.
The Bureau of Meteorology expects moderate floods for the Brisbane River, but warned that this is a “very evolving situation”, with weather updates scheduled for Sunday and warning that the risk of flooding in the city could be increased.
A flood warning in 16 suburbs along the Brisbane River was issued on Saturday night by Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner amid fears that “several thousand properties” could be flooded.
In Gympie, Ms. Palaszczuk said there were about 550 people in the city’s evacuation center, and a total of 1,040 were evacuated across the country.
Authorities expect the swollen Mary River in Jimpy to rise to its highest level in 23 years as supplies are delivered to a local community in nearby Cherbourg that will be disrupted by floods.
House in Roclea on Sunday morning with rising floods, making it dangerous for some people to return home
Heavy weather was also approaching the Gold Coast, with authorities monitoring the Logan and Albert Rivers and calling for help from the interior of the Gold Coast.
Against the backdrop of the crisis, water was leaking from Wavenhaw Dam in Brisbane, which was 160 percent above capacity. Moogerah Dam, located inside the Gold Coast, is also overflowing, as is Atkinson Dam.
Parents concerned that their children go to school on Monday will be informed of the effects on the education system.
“Education is doing a lot of work right now. Some schools will be affected, “Ms Palaszczuk said.
Parts of Gympie were submerged on Saturday amid rising water (pictured)
Meanwhile, the search continues for the only sailor aged about 70, who fell overboard from his ship near the mouth of Breakfast Creek around 16.45 on Saturday.
Among those killed was a man who lost his life in the Brisbane suburb of Indoroopili when his car sank.
The 34-year-old tried to swim safely, but witnesses raised the alarm when he failed to swim.
Police divers found the body of a 37-year-old man in floods near Gympie, north of the Sunshine Coast, on Saturday, while the body of a 54-year-old man was found in the Stones Corner in inland Brisbane.
A female SES volunteer was also killed when the car she was in was swept away on the rescue road near Ipswich on Friday night.
The deaths follow those of a 54-year-old man killed while riding a motorcycle through rising water in Gympie last week, and a 63-year-old man found dead in a sunken Sunshine Coast car.
Floods in Boondall in Brisbane with streets in a number of suburban suburbs (pictured)
What you need to know: the situation with the floods in Queensland to date
- SES volunteer Meryl Dray, 62, died while responding to a call for help at the Ipswich Kulana on Friday night
- The body of meat industry worker and father of three Phil Sug, 37, was found in floods on Saturday
- A 54-year-old man was killed while trying to ride a motorcycle through the rising water in Gympie
- The body of a 63-year-old woman was found in a sunken car on the Sunshine Coast this week
- The body of a Camp Hill man was found in the water at Stones Corner in southern Brisbane
- A new storm warning has been issued for south-east Queensland, with possible falls of up to 300 mm
- Gympie is preparing for the biggest flood in living memory
- Warnings of very dangerous storms continue for the southeast
- Major flood warnings for the Mary and Mulula rivers, the Maruchi and Nusa rivers, the Upper Brisbane and Stanley rivers and the Bremer river, along with the Leidley, Lockier and Waril streams
- Ipswich residents are leaving flooded homes for evacuation centers
- Bruce Hwy between Brisbane and Maryborough is currently cut in several places
- An emergency alert has been issued for Logan
- The Bremer River in Ipswich is currently 12.97 meters high and rising with heavy flooding, BOM reports.
- Residents of Gympie City and Southside have said they are evacuating