An elderly man has been forced to swim for his life through dangerous waters after a houseboat smashed into a ferry terminal.
Terrifying footage of the collision shows the houseboat flying down the Brisbane River at a rapid pace just before 9am on Sunday.
In just a matter of seconds the barge capsizes and sinks beneath the surface after smashing into the Holman Street ferry terminal at Kangaroo Point.
A man aged in his 70s can be seen walking on the houseboat before it collides with the terminal and disappears from view.
In just a matter of seconds the barge capsizes and sinks beneath the surface after smashing into the Holman Street ferry terminal at Kangaroo Point (pictured)
As strong currents sweep debris from the boat down the river police and bystanders kept a close eye on the elderly passenger who fell into the water.
Water and onshore officers tracked his movements for about 500m before he reached a nearby ferry terminal and pulled him from the fast-moving water.
While the boat was completely destroyed in the crash the man escaped the incident with no serious injuries.
Police have urged boat-owners to remain vigilant as southeast Queensland is hammered by life-threatening floods and rivers fill with debris and large objects.
It’s expected southeast Queensland will be hammered with 24 hours of torrential rain from major thunderstorms with six people already losing their life.
While the boat (pictured) was completely destroyed in the crash the man escaped the terrifying incident with no serious injuries
It’s expected southeast Queensland will be hammered with 24 hours of torrential rain from major thunderstorms with six people already losing their life (pictured, a car is towed from a flooded road in Oxley, Queensland)
Tens of thousands of residents are without power and thousands of homes and businesses are completely submerged under rising floodwaters as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the emergency would last for another three days.
More than 28,000 people in Brisbane’s western suburbs are cut off from the rest of the world with all roads in and out cut amid fears food may need to be airdropped in.
Severe warnings are in place for Brisbane, Logan, and Moreton with water levels already worse than the 2011 and 2013 floods in several areas including Gympie.
The Sunshine Coast is expected to endure its heaviest rain event since 1992.
The Brisbane River reached 3.1m on Sunday morning, as a massive storm cell sweeps over the southeast of the state and into NSW’s northern regions.
Parts of Brisbane Airport’s runways are also underwater with flights grounded into the QLD capital.
Severe warnings are in place for Brisbane, Logan, and Moreton with water levels already worse than the 2011 and 2013 floods in several areas including Gympie (pictured, the Brisbane River)
Dramatic rescues have saved Queenslanders from raging floodwaters including one man pulled to high ground when a bystander heroically dived into the torrent.
Incredible footage shows the moment Jamie Dickson swims through the rapidly flowing water to reach a struggling man named Leo after hearing his cries for help from the water’s edge.
Leo was fatigued after battling the floodwaters in Grantham in the state’s southeast, repeatedly bobbing under the surface and yelling ‘help, I can breathe’.
Mr Dickson dived in, wrapped his arm around Leo and pulled him back the edge as the clearly exhausted man struggled to stand on his own.
Ms Palaszczuk called for millions of residents in the state’s southeast to remain at home for the remainder of Sunday.
The premier confirmed more than 100 schools would be closed on Monday and buses cancelled with people to work from home tomorrow if they could.
Residents of some suburbs including Newstead on the banks of the Brisbane River flocked to supermarkets to stock up on emergency supplies.
The premier confirmed more than 100 schools would be closed on Monday and buses cancelled with people to work from home (pictured, a vehicle submerged in Oxley)
Residents of some suburbs including Newstead on the banks of the Brisbane River flocked to supermarkets to stock up on emergency supplies (pictured, floodwaters in Gympie)
Shelves of fresh bread were quickly cleaned out along with and entire aisle of bottled water with some concerned drinking water could become contaminated by the floodwaters.
Suburbs from Pullenvale to Mt Crosby in Brisbane’s west could be cut off for days due to rising floodwaters and dangerous conditions, as emergency services scramble to provide supplies to residents.
A child who was stranded in the area without an insulin pump was transported by the SES via boat on Sunday morning and taken to Royal Childrens Hospital after Moggill Road was completely submerged.
Ms Palaszczuk said during Sunday morning’s press conference that the area would see increased rain as the cell sweeps across coastal regions.
‘We have this big rain event right across the southeast…we have a lot of rain coming right across the southeast catchment zone into Wivenhoe,’ she said.
‘This is a very extreme weather event that we have at the moment.’
uburbs from Pullenvale to Mt Crosby in Brisbane’s west could be cut off for days due to rising floodwaters and dangerous conditions (pictured, a farm house in floodwaters in Bli Bli)
There are more than 300 Brisbane suburbs that face major flooding, with Wynnum and Wynnum West already seeing large parts underwater including a series of sports complexes, which could see damage bills in the millions.
NSW officials are increasingly concerned the same ‘significant’ event will batter its northern areas, with Premier Dominic Perrottet saying rain will ‘increase’ this week.
‘We know that whilst there might be blue skies in certain parts of NSW, that that does not mean that there will not be significant flooding events that occur over the course of this week,’ he said in a press conference on Sunday.
‘So please, please, do not be complacent. Please be prepared. If you are in an area where there has been a flood warning or in an area where there is an evacuation warning as well, please get ready, please be prepared and please follow the instructions as they are issued.’
Ailsa Schofield from the Bureau of Meteorology said the Northern Rivers and mid-north coast regions of NSW could see up to 250mm of rain on Sunday.
NSW officials are increasingly concerned the same ‘significant’ event will batter its northern areas, with Premier Dominic Perrottet saying rain will ‘increase’ this week (pictured, people look on as a house is inundated with flood water in Goodna, west of Brisbane)
Ailsa Schofield from the Bureau of Meteorology said the Northern Rivers and mid-north coast regions of NSW could see up to 250mm of rain on Sunday (pictured, a vehicle at Coorparoo)
‘There is some very serious weather on its way. The weather system that we’ve seen travelling from Queensland is now moving into New South Wales and we have already seen some very heavy rainfall totals,’ she said.
‘There is very serious and life-threatening flash flooding.’
She also warned there is potential for the severe storm system to move its way down to the lower parts of the state due to a low pressure system, which could see Sydney and the south coast in the firing line.
Queensland’s Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has urged people not to leave home unless absolutely necessary.
In Gympie, 700 people along the swollen Mary River – expected to rise above its highest level in 23 years in the next 24 hours – began evacuating, while supplies were delivered to an Indigenous community in nearby Cherbourg set to be cut off by floodwaters.
Heavy rain and potential flash flooding are forecast from Kingaroy through to the NSW border on Sunday and intense falls are predicted for an area encompassing Hervey Bay, Yarraman, Toowoomba and Ipswich.
There is major flooding at Tewantin near Noosa and Picnic Point and Dunethin Rock on the Sunshine Coast (pictured, a man transports his possessions in a boat on Sunday)
A father-of-three has been identified as the fifth victim of the once-in-a-lifetime weather event, while another man was confirmed dead on Sunday morning taking the death toll to six (pictured, floodwaters surround the town of Gympie, north of Sunshine Coast)
There is major flooding at Tewantin near Noosa and Picnic Point and Dunethin Rock on the Sunshine Coast, while flood warnings are in place for multiple waterways.
A father-of-three has been identified as the fifth victim of the once-in-a-lifetime weather event, while another man was confirmed dead on Sunday morning taking the death toll to six.
Nolan Meats worker Phil Sugg, 37, disappeared in floodwaters while driving along Tin Can Bay Road in Gympie, 150km north of the Queensland capital, on Friday night.
Police dive squad officers found his body in flood waters in nearby Goomboorian on Saturday afternoon after an extensive land and air search.
Early on Sunday morning another man from Moorooka drowned attempting to flee his submerged vehicle caught in floodwaters.
The 34-year-old was found dead on Witton Road at Indooroopilly at 2:45am – the sixth person in Queensland to lose their life in this week’s flood.
Merryl Dray, 62, – a member of the Lowood SES Group – died when her vehicle was swept away as she tried to help a family escape rising floodwaters at Coolana, west of Brisbane, on Friday night.
A man sits outside a flooded restaurant in Maroochydore on Sunday as Queenslanders are asked to stay at home on Monday with schools to remain closed
The catastrophic floods which have been caused by a slow-moving low pressure trough sitting over the NSW/Queensland border for the past five days (pictured, floodwaters in Gympie)
The body of a 55-year-old Camp Hill man was discovered at Stones Corner, south of Brisbane, at 1.30am on Saturday.
A 54-year-old man was killed when trying to ride a motorbike through rising water at Gympie and a 63-year-old woman’s body was found in a submerged car on the Sunshine Coast during the week.
Police continue to search for a yachtsman missing in the swollen Brisbane River, as severe weather warnings span almost 1000km of NSW and Queensland coastline and the death toll from severe flooding rises to seven.
The sole sailor, aged in his 70s, fell overboard from his vessel near the mouth of Breakfast Creek around 4.45pm on Saturday.
The catastrophic floods which have been caused by a slow-moving low pressure trough sitting over the NSW/Queensland border for the past five days.
