Miracle baby born in home cut off by deluge

AN Australian woman gave birth to a baby boy as deadly floods devastated areas around her home.

Australian media dubbed Callum Jack Wieland a “miracle baby”, with Sydney’s Daily Telegraph describing him as “living proof that amongst the despair in Queensland there is hope”.

Officials said Callum’s mother Kristie was at her home with family when she went into labour after flash floods on Monday swept at least 12 people to their deaths near Brisbane.

The woman was forced to deliver the baby late on Tuesday with the assistance of relatives after an emergency helicopter was unable to reach her because of the heavy rain.

“She was in a semi-rural property and the roads around her had been isolated,” a spokeswoman for Queensland’s CareFlight helicopter told AFP.

As telephone lines were cut and water surged all around them, Ms Wieland’s husband, Andy, and a neighbour helped deliver the healthy baby boy.

It is believed they used a shoelace to tie Callum’s umbilical cord.

As flood conditions eased, Ms Wieland was flown to an Ipswich hospital. Her father, Steve Donovan, who lives near Wollongong in NSW, was sick with worry until he read an online report about the happy ending.

“Horror hit when I lost contact with them,” he said on an online message board.

The woman and her newborn were eventually airlifted from their home in the hard-hit Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane to hospital yesterday and both were reportedly in good health.