SYDNEY - A woman died and a child was missing Tuesday after flash floods again hit sodden areas of Australia's northeast, authorities said.

More than 15 cm of rain pelted Queensland state's popular Sunshine Coast tourist area overnight, cutting off a number of towns and washing cars into surging floodwaters.

Police said a 19-year-old woman died after her vehicle was swept into a fast-moving creek late Monday at Cootamundra, in the neighbouring state of New South Wales.

'It was winched from the floodwaters and the driver was located dead inside the car.'

Her 22-year-old passenger managed to free herself and swam to safety, police added.

Emergency authorities said they were combing waters at Caboolture, north of Brisbane city, where 12-year-old Brandi Allen was missing feared dead after being washed from a weir on Monday afternoon.

'She's a very good swimmer, loved the water, was always in the water, but obviously the tide got the better of her,' said her mother, Deanna Allen.

Five English tourists spent a long, wet night waiting to be rescued after their car was washed away near Gympie, also north of Brisbane, police said.

'They had to hunker down in the rain for about three or four hours,' Sergeant Pat Armstrong told state radio.

It was the second time in a fortnight flash flooding hit the region, with raging waters sweeping an elderly woman to her death last weekend and stranding more than 1,000 people.

Several townships were declared natural disaster zones early this month after a sudden downpour hit towns around Coffs Harbour, about 570km north of Sydney.

Severe weather has ravaged Australia's east coast in recent months, with a series of cyclones unleashing floods in the north.

The downpour contrasted with tinder-dry conditions in the country's south that led to savage wildfires in Victoria state in February that claimed 173 lives and razed entire towns.