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.

Two hikers stranded on Mount Barney overnight were among the rescues. The pair were winched from the mountain and flown to hospital at2:15pm on Tuesday.

It came as emergency services were called to help the 48 students and teachers from North Lakes State College, who were on a school camp at Mount Barney as floodwater rose on Monday afternoon.

In a statement posted to social media, North Lakes State College said students and staff had been unable to return to their accommodation because of rapidly changing weather conditions.

Queensland Fire Department (QFD) 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 before 10pm yesterday.

The school said students and staff remained safe throughout the incident and were transported back to the college overnight before being reunited with their families.

QFD's Brad Moore said the successful outcome was a credit to the teaching staff and students.

"[They] identified that it wasn't safe to cross and they didn't attempt it," he said.

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

North Lakes State College, along with a spokesperson from the Department of Education, have thanked emergency services and school staff for their response.

Person rescued from car in northern NSW

Near the New South Wales and Queensland border, rescue teams worked to rescue a person stuck in a vehicle at Numinbah Valley near Murwillumbah.

SES deputy zone commander and superintendent Kristine McDonald said there had been two call-outs overnight.

She said conditions were easing.

"Overnight the rain has dropped right off, with some areas the rainfall has stopped altogether, which has given the river systems the opportunity to drain," she said.

NSW SES volunteers and emergency service partners have responded to 197 incidents since yesterday afternoon.

More rain in hours than month's average

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

At several locations, it was the most rain observed in a day in May on the Gold Coast since 2003.

Further north, Coombabah saw 178mm, while in the Scenic Rim almost 200mm fell at Springbrook National Park.

Gold Coast local disaster coordinator Mark Ryan said the rainfall total far exceeded the 60–80mm 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 forecast across the next week would be of particular focus for triggering further responses.

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

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli reiterated calls for the federal government to continue its investment in the weather bureau in a bid to improve the accuracy of forecasts.

"As a state and local government, we have to make decisions that are about life and death based on the information that we get," he said.

"That's why we ask for that investment in things like radars, like flood gauges, things that are important."

Mr Crisafulli urged those who considered entering floodwater to think twice after emergency services assisted with more than 10 rescues overnight across south-east Queensland.

He said those people considering entering floodwater should think of those who would be tasked with rescuing them.

"That person's got a family, they've got a life, they've got a job to do. I think if we put it in that way people are more likely to make better choices," he said.

"Rather than bark orders at people, I'll just make that observation. If you care about your fellow human being and their life, think of that."