Heart-pounding moment trapped driver is saved from sinking car by man in his underwear seconds before it goes underwater in flash floods

ABC reporter Will Murray and another man rescued a driver from a sinking ute in floodwater at Morayfield, north of Brisbane, on Thursday. The rescue highlights how quickly floodwater can become dangerous, and Murray urged people not to drive through it.

The vehicle stalled after entering floodwater on Buchanan Road and began to sink. Murray and the other witness struggled with its doors, then opened the driver’s side enough for the man to escape just before the roof went underwater. About 170 millimetres of rain fell in three hours; emergency services arrived around 10 minutes after the rescue, and flooding also led to road and school closures and a prepare-to-leave notice for parts of Moreton Bay.