Make it safe
Water everywhere
Turn off the stop tap at your water meter. Unitywater says that's fine to do temporarily, but check it won't damage appliances such as your hot water system.
Sewage on the floor or in the yard
Stop using taps, toilets and appliances. If it's coming from Unitywater's pipes or onto public land, Unitywater takes reports 24 hours a day.
Gas smell
Get outside, leave switches alone and ring the emergency number on your gas bill or cylinder supplier's paperwork.
Water pouring in from outside
If storm water is flooding in from the road or a neighbour's block, move valuables up and keep away from electrics. Then see who's responsible below.
Whose emergency is it?
Unitywater for sewage coming from its pipes or onto public property, and for a leak at the meter. The meter belongs to Unitywater, and plumbers are told not to repair it. If the ground around the meter is soggy and the meter isn't ticking over, Unitywater says the leak is likely on its side.
Sunshine Coast Council for blocked or damaged stormwater pipes in the road reserve.
A plumber for burst pipes, leaks with the meter ticking over, blocked toilets and drains inside your property, private downpipes that drain to the kerb, and inter-allotment drains. If the plumber finds a sewer blockage is in Unitywater's pipes, they report it rather than clear it.
What Sunshine Coast emergencies look like
Downpours
Sunshine Coast Airport has recorded 294.4 mm in a single day, and averages 16.7 days a year with 25 mm or more. February is the wettest month, at 214.8 mm.
Rarely frost at the coast
The airport averages 0.5 days a year at 2°C or below. Frost is rarely a threat to pipes on the coast itself.
Overland flow is part of the deal
Council says owners must accept natural overland flow from neighbouring blocks, public land and roads, and must not build barriers that interfere with it. When water is concentrated onto your block, for example from a neighbour's downpipe outlet, Council may get involved.
Licensed, even at midnight
An urgent job is still regulated plumbing. Ask for the QBCC licence number and check it on the QBCC registers once things are calm. For anything involving gas, the fitter also needs a licence or authorisation from Resources Safety and Health Queensland.
Agree the call-out and hourly rate before work starts, and ask them to make it safe first and quote any bigger repair separately. Our burst pipes page and the national emergency plumber page cover what can wait.
What we would do
Before the next storm season, find your meter, check the stop tap turns, and look at where your downpipes go. In an emergency, stop the water first, then decide: anything at the meter or in Unitywater's pipes goes to Unitywater, anything in the road reserve to Council, everything else to a plumber. Ask the plumber to make it safe and quote the rest in daylight. If they find a blockage in Unitywater's sewer, they should report it, not clear it at your cost.