Morgan Jarden gets a hug from his relieved dad, Bill, after his ordeal on Sunday when he was trapped by rising waters with darkness falling.

Nicholas Falconer

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Rescue in flash floods at Conondale

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Automatic flood cover advised for Qld

RECENT tsunami warnings keep water and flood damage top of mind on Queensland’s coast, while unpredictable storms and floods again threaten the interior.

A YOUNG autistic man was home safe with his relieved family yesterday after a frightening ordeal when he was stranded by flash flooding near Conondale on Sunday.

Morgan Jarden became trapped on the wrong side of the Mary River when water roared down the upper reaches, turning a normally tranquil stream into a raging 30-metre-wide torrent.

The 22-year-old’s family spent several hours calling to him across the flood waters, trying to keep him calm and ensure he did not attempt to cross.

With darkness approaching, and Morgan becoming increasingly distressed, emergency crews were called in.

But he was to spend several long, cold hours in the dark before a swift water rescue crew from Queensland Fire and Rescue Service reached him by boat and reunited him with his family.

The rescue capped a long, frightening day which began about 11am when Morgan set out from the family’s Ahern Road property for one of his regular walks in the bush.

When he crossed the river, it was two metres wide, knee-deep and flowing gently.

Within hours, three quick storms had turned it into a torrent and he was trapped on the other side.

“He told me he was going across, like he always does, but when he tried to come back a few hours later, he couldn’t,” his father Bill said.

“He yelled out ‘the river’s up, dad’ and I went down and had a look and told him there was nothing I could do – he’d have to wait for it to go back down.”

There was no panic at that stage, but the water fell slowly and as the hours passed, Morgan became increasingly distressed, cold and hungry.

“He was freezing cold and just wanted to come home but we had to keep telling him to wait,” his stepmother, Pauline Polistina, said.

“As long as we could see him on the other side of the river and he wasn’t panicking too much, then he was okay.

“The thing that was worrying was what he would do when it got dark.”

Wearing only a pair of boardshorts, a soaked Morgan spent several freezing hours calling out across the water to family and friends who maintained a vigil, using car headlights to keep him in sight.

After what QFRS Maroochydore station officer Paul Clark described as a “fairly straight forward” rescue by boat, Morgan was eventually reunited with his relieved family at about 9.30pm – more than 10 hours after he had set out on his walk.

“Once they got set up, it was very quick and they had him back safely in no time,” Bill said.

“He was pretty distressed and worried that he was in trouble with the police and the rescue people, so we had to keep reassuring him it wasn’t his fault.”

Bill and Pauline are now working out how best to say thank you to the rescuers.

“They did a terrific job,” Bill said.

“I don’t know how to say thank you properly but I would like to take Morgan down there one day soon so he can thank them himself.”