Queensland Woman Jumps Into Ocean To Rescue Beer Kegs During Dramatic Flooding

Parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales have been hit with heavy rainfall, huge swells and damaging winds that have caused dramatic flooding.

The Gold Coast suburb of Currumbin was given an Emergency Warning on Sunday evening (13 December), stating that 'heavy predicted rainfall in the hinterland area' could impact properties.

The water certainly poured in and residents were fighting the wild weather to ensure their properties and businesses weren't gravely affected.

One woman even risked her life to rescue some beer kegs.

7News

7News Queensland captured the moment the woman dived into the sea to grab the beer kegs that had been swept away from a local surf club.

All beaches were closed along the Gold Coast after the decision was taken as the weather was too severe and water was too choppy.

Surf Life Saving Queensland issued a warning this morning (15 December) that people 'should consider staying out of the water and avoid walking near surf-exposed areas', and also urged rock fishers and boaters to avoid their activities.

The damaging weather conditions have also been felt a little further south in Byron Bay.

A king tide combined with fierce winds and heavy rainfall have caused 'once in a generation' damage along the coastline.

Eight-metre high waves battered the shoreline and destroyed parts of the idyllic foreshore and even wrecked the coastal walk. Residents were warned the weather system would strike with the same intensity as a category one Tropical Storm.

Tom Murray, a research fellow at the Griffith University Centre for Coastal Management, told The Guardian the damage has been magnified due to erosion over the last few years not being fixed.

"Because of that there's no sand there to protect the beach when you get a storm like this," he said.

"There's no buffer there and you've got big high tides, a relatively large storm surge and these big waves coinciding. It looks pretty bad and the community is saying it's the worst [erosion] in a generation."

Emergency services have been shocked at the devastation, with the area only recently plagued by bushfires.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services commissioner, Greg Leach, said authorities are trying to get on top of everything.

He said: "Only last week we were dealing with bushfire situations and now the big wet has arrived.

"We need to be prepared, not only for the weather we are dealing with now, but [that] we're likely to see over the coming month."

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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