12:00a.m. 24th August 2007

Yandina 's Belinda Revie and partner Derek Pengelly with baby Ruby were rescued by the Yandina SES after their Vee Road home was flooded on the banks Gully Creek . Photo:Barry Leddicoat 168419g.

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A Yandina woman has spent a terrifying night trapped in her home with her two-year-old daughter as rising flood waters cut off her road access.

State Emergency Services were able to retrieve Belinda Revie and daughter Ruby at about 8am this morning in the rescue boat, but Ms Revie said the short journey from her Vee Road house to higher ground was frightening.

“We struggled to get going, the currents were so strong,” Ms Revie said.

“My daughter was terrified – it took us about 15 minutes before we were safe.”

Ms Revie made the decision to evacuate her household around 7pm yesterday when she noticed it looked like the road might flood.

“We managed to get the car and two of my three children (aged 11 and 12) and their father out, but then I was left behind with the two-year-old as I was trying to get some clothes together.

“They wanted to come back and fetch me, but they couldn’t get through the road.”

Ms Revie spent the night on the telephone calling for help and didn’t sleep a wink as she kept the spotlight on so she could watch the rising water.

“I was awake all night watching water rise ringing for help. We’ve got a high house so it wasn’t getting flooded, but they had to come get me in a boat.”

Ms Revie only moved to the property two months ago.

“We didn’t know this could happen,” said.

“It was like the Maroochy River and Wappa Falls joined in my backyard.”

At Kin Kin, an Energex crew was plucked from a flooded creek.

The crew was rescued by canoe after their vehicle became stuck in floodwaters caused by rainfall of up to 713mm in 24 hours.

Flooding has also forced the evacuation of residents in the area of Lake Entrance Boulevard at Noosa.

Numerous roads and several schools have been closed after some areas of the Sunshine Coast recorded 200mm in just two hours. Emergency services are urging drivers not to ignore road closures.

A motorist had to be plucked to safety from the roof of his car after becoming stranded on Beddington Road at Doonan early this morning. Police also reported another rescue where an SES boat had to be used to get someone from a flooded car.

At Mt Bilewilam near Double Island Point, the Bureau of Meterology reported 632mm of rain, while Noosa had almost 400mm of rain - including 80mm in just one hour.

The flooding has cut Maroochydore Road between Kunda Park and the Bruce Highway, and Yandina Creek Road at the intersections of Toolborough Road and North Arm Road.

Road around Pomona have also been closed, along with Noosa-Eumundi Road, Coolum-Yandina Road, Eumundi-Kenilworth Road, Kenilworth-Skyring Creek Road, McKinnon Drive at Tewantin, and Crosby Hill Road in Buderim.

Dozens of State Emergency Service volunteers and firefighters worked throughout the night, sandbagging and pumping water from flooded properties.

Emergency Management Queensland spokesman Andy Christie said local crews were being rested this morning, replaced with crews from Brisbane after a huge overnight effort.

By 3am, Noosa and Maroochy SES crews had attended 80 separate calls for assistance, mainly from people who had been inundated with water in their homes.

Suncoast Christian College and Nambour Christian College, both near Woombye, have closed for the day with the carpark of Suncoast completely flooded. Nambour High was expected to remain open.

Both Montessori schools on the Coast have also been closed, as have Noosa and Coolum Christian colleges and Peregian Beach Community College.

The access road to Gympie Muster has also been cut

Yandina residents told local radio this morning they had never seen the Maroochy River rise so quickly - but one stranded worker was begging the SES to get a boat to her so she could get to work.

Another woman who was in a caravan annexe watching the river rising said her husband estimated it had risen by two metres. "The river is absolutely rushing past. If it was not so frightening it would be exciting,'' she said.

Police urged drivers to take care on all roads north of Noosa and Pomona due to local flooding and continued heavy rain in the area.

The Bruce Highway is also closed around 5km north of Tiaro, on the Fraser Coast, after trees in the area were knocked over by severe storms last night. It is unsure how long the highway will be closed while the area is cleared.

The Bureau of Meteorology said this morning that the heavy rainfall overnight and during Thursday had caused fast river rises and flooding in the tributaries of the Maroochy and Noosa rivers (see full bureau flood warning).

The rain is expected to ease during the day, but the bureau has warned that dangerous surf conditions are persisting

State Emergency Services volunteers have been run off their saturated feet since the eye of the storm hit the Coast on Tuesday night.

The Maroochydore crew was called to Burnett Street in Buderim yesterday after a tree fell on the roof of a unit.

SES group leadre Sonia Silcock said volunteers chopped back the top of the tree, but left it angled against the residence.

“We secured the tree to stop it from falling, but we had to leave it there otherwise it would have busted the fence,” she said. “Now it’s up to the owner to remove it.”

Lyn McKinnon, who lives in one of the units in the same complex, said: “I am just grateful the SES went out there to sort it out.”

Ms Silcock said her volunteers had been called to put tarpaulins on damaged roofs and remove fallen trees.

“We got our first job about 10.30pm Tuesday night and finished there about midnight,” she said. “Then we got a few hours sleep before we were up again at 5.30am the next day and it was on from there.”

ABC Coast FM presenter John Stokes welcomed the soaking rain but was hoping it would not lead to flooding around his property at Mount Ninderry, near Yandina.

“The caneland paddocks on the back road between Dunethin Rock and Yandina are getting soaked and waterlogged,” he said.

“There is run-off getting to the edge of Vee Road and there is water crossing the causeway at Ninderry Road; that’s the first time I’ve seen that in ages.

“If it keeps up, we might have a little flood on our hands and there could be a few dramas.

“It’s nice to see all this rain. At first, the earth would just soak it up, but now it’s starting to sit on the surface and actually run off.”

Motorists were advised to take care on the roads, especially around known flooding areas like Bradman Avenue, Maroochydore Road, near the old Eudlo Creek Road and the Yandina-Coolum Road.

Parts of Toolborough Road, Arcoona Road and the North Arm-Yandina Creek Road at Yandina Creek were also under water yesterday.

The Caloundra and Noosa SES branches seem to have copped the brunt of the storm-related call outs this week, attending about 25 and 20 respectively.

Caloundra’s deputy controller Janet Scott said her volunteers were mostly called to attend minor roof damage and fallen trees.

“Because it happened during the working week we had a bit of a problem getting volunteers, but it hasn’t been too bad,” she said.

The Maroochydore crew had 14 callouts, Maleny 10 and Kawana 12. Most of the jobs came in on Wednesday and were related to fallen trees, leaking roofs and roof damage, including dislodged shade sails.

“Wednesday was a long day,” Maleny group leader Lloyd Larney said.

“We were out from 9am till after 7pm. But we’ve been through this before and we needed the rain.

“We’ve had more than 10 inches (254 mms) up here this week.

“As long as no one gets hurt, we are happy to put in a few long days.”

All SES operators the Daily spoke to yesterday said they would welcome any new members.

Related stories:

Flood peak to hit tonight

Heaviest rainfall on record

Accidents keep coming in the wet

Muster access for 4WDs only

Rising river adds weight to dam claims