By Samantha Hayes
Parts of Australia are experiencing weather extremes, with record high temperatures in Perth and torrential rain on the eastern seaboard.
There's flooding from Noosa and Brisbane south to the New South Wales border, and dozens of people have been evacuated from their homes.
Ignoring warnings not to drive through floodwaters, a car caught on tape was lost in a raging torrent. The driver was okay - one of 16 swift water rescues in Queensland overnight.
Emergency response workers were kept busy pulling two elderly men and their dog to safety at Lawnton in the state's north.
"Waiting to go fishing and when we got out of the car there was three feet of water, and that was it," says witness David Kellie.
Two women feared swept away after their car was found abandoned in a flooded causeway were found safe and well this morning.
Dozens had to be evacuated from their homes as up to 280mm of rain hit parts of Queensland overnight. Roads were washed away and 9,000 homes lost power.
As creeks and rivers burst their banks, cranes were needed to retrieve submerged cars. Eight hundred in total were caught out and needed to be towed.
Building materials were washed away, and residents feared the worst.
In New South Wales the rain caused the swollen Bellinger River to split the town in two, isolating 500 residents.
Meteorologists have warned of more rain to come, but not to the extent of last year's disaster.
"The heavy rain across the east of the country is going to continue until at least the weekend, and the hot weather in Western Australia, that's an unprecedented heatwave for Perth," says Tom Saunders, Weather Channel senior meteorologist.
"They're going to have eight consecutive days where the max temp hits at least 38degC."
Perth residents are hitting the beach to swelter through the heatwave, the city's hottest since 1962.
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