Flood

A six-hour, swift-water rescue mission to help 34 people stranded on a bus has ended in Central Queensland.
Rescue crews were called to Fingerboard and Lowmead roads at Mount Tom between Miriam Vale and Agnes Water around 6:30am on Saturday.
Queensland Fire Department state coordinator Chief Superintendent Rob Bonniwell said a Greyhound bus had become isolated between two sections of floodwater.
"It couldn't move, it couldn't turn around, so really the only way to rescue the passengers was to escort them out and basically transport them".
He said the rescue took several hours, because the passengers had to be transported two at a time for more than two kilometres.
"Fortunately, the passengers were well looked after, and they weren't in any immediate danger, so we had time where we could transport them safely," he said.
Gladstone Regional Council Mayor Matt Burnett said the passengers were taken to nearby Miriam Vale.
He said it was unsurprising that the road had been shut, given the rainfall overnight.
"Most people are reporting falls of around 150 millimetres and some over 200," he said.
He said Agnes Water could still be accessed from the south, but that could change depending on the amount of rain expected on Saturday night.
"If the Essendean bridge is cut, then the access to Agnes will be completely cut," he said.
Greyhound Australia has been contacted for comment.

Where is the low going?
Tropical Low 29U crossed the coast early on Friday afternoon near Innisfail, after lashings of rain in coastal areas around the Daintree ripped boats from their moorings.
A severe weather warning for heavy rain is in place for the Gulf Country, Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders areas this morning but it is expected to ease later today.
BOM senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said an area from Georgetown down to Richmond and Hughenden was expected to see the heaviest rainfall totals today, which could lead to flash flooding.
"Tropical lows are notorious for always moving and having a mind of their own … things change pretty quickly," he said.
"It will continue moving westwards today and then it might kind of stall and weaken out somewhere between Julia Creek and Hughenden and then we're going to see an upper trough move in to southern parts of the country."
Much of north-west Queensland is still recovering from catastrophic flooding in December.
With a flood watch for "most of Queensland" in place from the BOM, on top of a severe weather warning in place for a large swathe of the northern interior, local governments, such as the Etheridge Shire Council, have spent days preparing.
On Friday, a Watch and Act flood warning was issued for the area.
Mayor Barry Hughes said sandbags were available for residents in the town of Einasleigh, with evacuation points well-publicised.
More than a dozen properties were damaged in the town during flooding this year.
"Everything is saturated, so it's not going to take much to get these rivers up and rolling again," Cr Hughes said.

Clean-up continues
The Daintree Ferry, which connects the northern Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation with the rest of Far North Queensland, broke its moorings on Thursday night as the river rose 2 metres above the major flood level within hours.
Damien Meadows, Douglas Shire councillor and deputy chair of the local disaster management group, said he expected the ferry to be out of action for at least a week.
He said the council was working to secure some "barge-type vessels", so some passengers and freight could traverse the river.
Business owner David White, who runs crocodile and wildlife tours on the river, also lost two boats on Friday morning.
"The river was flowing so fast … someone found my boat floating upside down, down the river in the mangroves," he said.
"The other boat is missing."
Within hours of the loss, a community-organised online fundraiser received $50,000 in donations.
The loss of the Daintree ferry service also means the remote community of Wujal Wujal, about 60 kilometres to the north, was cut off, as the Mulligan Highway to the north was also closed.
Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council chief executive Peter O'May said the river rose quickly on Thursday evening, damaging some sporting grounds and infrastructure as well as the road to the Bloomfield River Ridge.
"[But] the community stocked up the day before … so they're really well prepared," Mr O'May said.