A family has been saved from the roof of their home on the northern Gold Coast minutes before it was swept away in floodwaters.
The dramatic rescue played out in the early hours of Saturday morning as the flooded Albert River devastated a street at Luscombe.
The mother and two children had waited on the roof for hours in the dark.
Neighbours directed a crew of three SES personnel — Chris Holloway, Claire Browning, and disaster management officer Jim Ferguson — to their aid.
“It took us approximately an hour to dodge the high trees, the powerlines, the stuff that was coming down the river,” Mr Ferguson said.
“I climbed over the balcony hands and knees along the awning, stood up and made my first real contact with the parent and the two kids.”
The trio were helped into the boat, along with another man and two dogs who were inside the home.
Fifteen minutes later, the house was swept away.
“It was, tough … the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” Mr Ferguson said.
The remnants of the house, and neighbours’ sheds, stretch hundreds of metres down the quiet rural street.
Neighbours and friends spent Sunday clearing debris, and rebuilding fences.