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A Sapphire business owner has praised the efforts of the local SES and Sergeant Paul Cognet on their swift responses to the major floods early on Wednesday morning.
Blue Gem Tourist Park owner Ewan Letts was woken to the news about 3.30am there had been a huge downpour in the catchment of Retreat Creek and he needed to evacuate his guests.
There was around six vans in the park that needed to be moved to higher ground.
“We were able to evacuate them without a drama,” Mr Letts said.
“The creek had risen dramatically to what it normally was … they had something like 217mm in the lower catchment … it was a very intense rainfall which resulted in the creek coming up very quickly.
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Many roads across the Central Highlands and Isaac regions remain closed following heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours.
Residents in the Gemfields have been closed in from the north and south, with both Anakie Sapphire Road and Capella Road closed in both directions due to flooding.
It is understood that Retreat Creek Bridge reopened about 1pm on March 17.
Areas of the Gemfields recorded more than 200mm early Wednesday morning, which also resulted in the rapid rise of Retreat Creek, flooding parts of Sapphire.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads reported Clermont Alpha Road was closed from 9am, from Alpha to the Isaac Regional Council boundary.