Man saved by drone after desperate call for help among dozens rescued from floods

Desperate south-east Queensland residents have had to climb on top of cars, roofs and even up trees as flash flooding struck in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.

Emergency services and the State Emergency Service have responded to 150 water incidents across Brisbane, Ipswich and the Sunshine Coast, with countless lives saved.

One man was saved from the roof of his ute in Chevallum, on the Sunshine Coast hinterland, after 400 millimetres of rain fell in 12 hours.

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A drone pinpointed where he was after he called his daughter for help.

"He called me to say that he was stuck in the floodwater and the car was filling up with water and that he couldn't get out and then I freaked out and called the police," she told 9News.

"I feel like I could punch him in the face, but I feel a lot better now. "

Rescue crews moved in, securing ropes to the man before he stepped into the inflatable and to safety.

Another man was also rescued nearby.

One man described how he had to call triple zero as the floods came.

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"The car started fill up, so we climbed on the roof," he said.

Further south at Yatala, between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, an elderly couple and their dog were rescued after trying to drive through a flooded road.

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Off Bribie Island, Marine Rescue crews saved a sailor and his two dogs on a boat that was drifting onto rocks in 100km/h winds.

Floods have now eased in some places, such as in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast, but multiple warnings remain in place across the state's south-east.