Australia Weather News

Almost 50 high school students and teachers have been rescued after becoming stranded by floodwater at a national park in the Scenic Rim.

The rescue was one of more than 10 performed across the region yesterday as heavy rain drenched parts of south-east Queensland.

Emergency services were contacted about 5pm to help the 48 students and teachers from North Lakes State College, who were on a school camp at Mount Barney as floodwaters rose.

The students and staff were unable to return to their planned accommodation because of the weather conditions.

Queensland Fire Department swift water rescue crews, in tandem with the State Emergency Service (SES), used a boat to ferry the stranded students and teachers across the flooded road, returning them to dry land safely by 11pm on Monday.

No-one was injured, and all of the year 12 students were reunited with their families in the early hours of this morning.

In a statement posted to social media, North Lakes State College said it had kept parents informed as the situation unfolded.

A spokesperson from the Department of Education thanked emergency services and school staff for their response.

More rain in hours than month's average

On the coast, the Gold Coast Seaway has recorded 119 millimetres since 9am on Monday, topping the monthly average total rainfall for the region in less than 12 hours.

Gold Coast local disaster coordinator Mark Ryan said the rainfall total far exceeded the 60–80 millimetres forecast for the region yesterday.

He said the city responded well despite the limited notice and was prepared for further rain today.

"All of our rivers and creeks are now saturated, so if we do get forecasts of any sort of significant rainfall, we would then start issuing warnings," he said.

Mr Ryan said heavy rainfall forecasts across the next week would be of particular focus for triggering further responses.

"Potentially taking preventative things like opening sandbags … and so forth."