The search and rescue operation to locate five men stranded after their ute was washed off a road in Bogie this morning (near Bowen) is continuing.
The CQ Rescue Helicopter was dispatched from Mackay after a different aircraft was unable to reach the area from Townsville due to severe weather.
The CQ Rescue Helicopter reached the search area earlier, but it has now been grounded due to heavy rain.
Police hope to launch two vessels soon to search Molongal Creek.
Around 8am, the mother of one of the vehicle's occupants called police to relay a message from her son that water was rising around the ute he was in.
The ute had been on Tondara Road, around 15 kilometres from the Bruce Highway.
It appears the ute was then swept off the road.
Initial information indicates that they managed to get out of the ute but are now stranded and may have been making their way to the coast.
Due to communication difficulties, no contact with the men has been possible for several hours.
The stranded men had been in the area on a pig hunt last night.
Tondara Road – the only road in and out of the area they were in – became flooded as Ex-Tropical Cyclone Penny impacted the area.
