Deluge frays nerves of flood-weary locals

More than 160mm of rain has fallen in some parts of Queensland since Sunday morning. Photo / Getty Images, BestPix

With one life already lost, residents in Queensland's sodden southeast are praying there will not be a repeat of last year's devastating floods.

Some areas have received more than 160mm of rain since Sunday morning.

A man died at Glenwood, between Gympie and Maryborough, after the car he was in was washed off the road during the deluge yesterday morning.

The Department of Community Safety said bystanders spotted another person nearby. "They've said there was a good Samaritan there on the scene when the four-wheel-drive went over the causeway, but we've been unable to confirm those reports," a department spokeswoman said.

Authorities have called off the search for a third person after it transpired that another car had been unoccupied when it was swept away in the deluge.

Gympie Regional Council Mayor Ron Dyne said that "extreme rainfall" overnight flooded creeks and some homes.

But he says the flooding will not be as bad as that which devastated most of southeast Queensland in January last year, so long as the Mary River does not overflow.

Earlier, a father and son stranded on top of their car were plucked to safety from racing floodwaters at Tiaro. The pair, aged 26 and 65, waited more than three hours before two crews in flood boats were able to retrieve them.

In New South Wales, almost 5000 people have been forced to flee their homes while others have been placed on high alert as water levels continue to rise.

Nine more local government areas have been declared disaster zones.

The Riverina region, in the state's southwest, has become the focus for emergency services, with the Murrumbidgee River bursting its banks.

Downstream at Gundagai, about 60 people have been evacuated with 30 homes, businesses and the local racecourse flooded.

- AAP