Torrential rain brings death and chaos across two states

A man paddles in Bulimba Creek, Australia. Photo / Supplied

BRISBANE - Torrential rain has caused chaos across Queensland and New South Wales.

A boy has drowned, roads are flooded and boats adrift on rivers in southeast Queensland.

Clagiraba in the Gold Coast hinterland received 415mm of rain in the past 24 hours.

Nearby Canungra received 366mm and Mt Tamborine 372mm.

A 14-year-old boy drowned when the car in which he was travelling tried to cross Black Duck Creek at Junction View, south of Toowoomba, on Saturday night.

The boy and two other people managed to get out of the car after it was swept off the roadway, but he was washed away in the floodwaters.

A spokesman for the Department of Community Safety said swift water rescue crews were called to another five incidents in the Gold Coast hinterland after cars were stranded in floodwaters.

Flooding is affecting at least 21 roads on the Gold Coast, police said, and drivers have been warned not to try to cross flooded roadways.

Up to 30 boats have broken their moorings and are adrift on the Coomera River between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The State Emergency Service received 172 calls for help, 101 of them from Gold Coast residents mainly seeking assistance with sandbagging and temporary roof repairs.

The Bureau of Meteorology expected further heavy rainfall and flash flooding to continue over the area to the south of Brisbane until today, particularly about the Gold Coast hinterland and southern border regions.

A huge mopping-up operation continues after a night of wild storms wreaked havoc across NSW.

Severe thunderstorms flooded homes and roads, brought down trees and caused road accidents over a wide area. Emergency services have been inundated with calls since the storms broke on Friday evening and intensified on Saturday night.

Heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding were forecast for the northern rivers and parts of the mid-north coast.

Near Lismore, a woman in labour was trapped in floodwaters for several hours yesterday.

An ambulance spokeswoman said the woman was safely admitted to Mullumbimby Hospital.

In Sydney, the worst-hit areas spanned from the northern beaches to Hornsby. No records were broken, but Sydney recorded 74.8mm of rain in 24 hours in one of the busiest nights for emergency services in years.

The NSW Fire Brigade had about 500 calls for help in Sydney, mostly for fallen trees, which crashed on to cars and homes, and flooded basements.

The State Emergency Service has been stretched, with nearly 1200 calls for help statewide so far since the storms began.

The upper northern suburbs, including St Ives and Gordon, were the hardest hit. Cars were submerged as water levels rose and six people needed to be rescued after becoming trapped in vehicles and houses.

Eleven high-dependency nursing home patients in the city's northwest had to be evacuated because of flooding.

SES crews spent most of the evening sandbagging, covering roofs with tarpaulins and dealing with about 100 fallen trees.

Illawarra, Goulburn and the Blue Mountains also copped a battering.

The wild weather was likely to continue until tomorrow.

- AAP