TwoT men rescued in flood waters

FIREFIGHTERS rescued two young men after their car became stuck in flood waters along the Bruce Highway, south of Townsville.

Paramedics were called to assess two men, one in his 20s and the other in his teens, after their vehicle became stuck in flood water on the Bruce Hwy and Rangemore Rd at Gumlu at 3.38am on Wednesday, the Queensland Ambulance Service reported.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services crews extricated them both to safety, and they were uninjured and did not require transport to hospital.

It comes after police were responding to reports of flooding on the Bruce Highway in the Burdekin during the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Water was covering parts of the road, and police were urging drivers to make alternate plans until flood waters subsided. The collision of two jet streams over Queensland is fuelling extreme weather conditions, including 12C temperature drops and 100km/h winds in the southeast.

A heatwave warning is active for Queensland’s north with temperatures to soar into the low 40s today and Thursday. Areas impacted include the Peninsula, Gulf Country, Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders and North Tropical Coast and Tablelands Districts

Torrential rain has triggered flash flooding south of Townsville with the Bruce Hwy cut in both directions between Gumlu and Wangaratta.

Bureau meteorologist Brooke Pagel said the flash flooding was caused by thunderstorms moving through the area, causing heavy rainfall in a short an amount of time.

“About 25mm of rain moved through the area in a threehour period from 9pm to midnight,” she said. “Given how saturated the areas are already, the renewed rise isn’t surprising.”