The latest flood emergency in Australia has been dramatically depicted in footage of a police rescue of two men and their dogs from a vehicle trapped in rising waters.
Queensland police released bodyworn vision on Friday showing officers rescuing the pet-owners, after their van was swept off the road by floodwaters at Morwincha, 90km south-west of Brisbane yesterday.
The frightening video was captured just after 4pm on Thursday after police had attended the scene of a fatal traffic crash on the Cunningham Highway.
But the officers from Ipswich District then received an urgent call for help, several hundred metres away, where they found the men’s van had been washed off the flooded bridge and was wedged against a tree.
One man could be seen clinging to the passenger door while another elderly man was trapped inside with three dogs as floodwater rose rapidly around them.
Police waded more than 100 metres out and retrieved the first man and a puppy.
The officer then returned to the vehicle and carried the elderly male on his back through the flood waters to higher ground.
The remaining officers coaxed the dogs, a kelpie and a Great Dane, out of the submerged van and carried them out.
One of the officers involved in the rescue is currently caring for the dogs, Ghost, Molly and the puppy (yet to be named), until conditions ease in the Scenic Rim area.
Police again urged the public to avoid roads, creeks and bridges likely to be impacted by rapidly rising water, storm debris and flood damage during the current wet weather.
A flood emergency has been declared in the Lockyer Valley east of Brisbane and severe weather warnings remain in place for southern Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, southeast coast and an area from south of Gladstone down to Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast
The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted totals of up to 160mm over a six-hourly period in some areas, with the slow-moving low currently impacting Bundaberg and Gympie areas.
Major flood warnings also remain in place for the Cape, Condamine, Balonne, Logan and Macintyre rivers, and the Bureau says flash-flooding is possible in many areas.
The town of Laidley in the Lockyer Valley has been particularly impacted, with the main street of the historic town resembling a river on Friday morning.