A drunk man who drove his partner and young children into flood waters west of Brisbane tried to flee after calling police to say his family needed help.
Police found the man's partner and children, aged four and six, safe but distressed after they managed to free themselves from the flooded vehicle in the Ipswich suburb of Karrabin about 8.30pm on Thursday.
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People ignore warnings to stay out of floodwaters
People are swimming and exploring in Queensland floodwaters, despite warnings to stay out of the water.
That was at the height of wild weather that lashed Queensland's south-east, as the remnants of ex-cyclone Debbie moved south, dumping torrential rain.
Police say the man, who is now facing a drink-driving charge, freed himself and when he realised his family was in serious danger, made a Triple-0 call for help.
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But he then took off, as flood waters swamped the car to the roof line.
"When police arrived the driver had run from the scene. Police located an adult female and two young kids ... they managed to get out of the vehicle but obviously were quite distressed," a police spokeswoman said.
"The vehicle was submerged and the water has risen pretty quickly and had reached the roof. The car couldn't be retrieved."
Police found the driver nearby a short time later, and he later returned a blood alcohol reading of .09.
State Disaster Coordinator Stephan Gollschewski told reporters about the incident as he expressed disbelief at "foolish and stupid" behaviour of some people amid Queensland's cyclone and flood crisis.
"We had a person rescued last night that had driven into waters with family members and that person was charged with drink driving afterwards," he said.
"This causes enormous risk to our community and all the emergency services responders."
AAP