Heroic teenager sacrifices life for brother and mother in floods

A teenager killed in the Toowoomba flood in Australia has been hailed a hero after he told a rescuer to save his younger brother first, minutes before he and his mother were swept away.

Jordan Rice, 10-year-old brother Blake and mother Donna were forced to climb onto the roof of their car after they were caught in the flood about 2pm on Monday.

The tragic rescue saw a truck driver save Blake, while Donna tried to grab Jordan, aged 13, after he became separated from the tree the pair were clinging to.

Ms Rice’s devastated partner of 30 years and father to her four children, John Tyson, said Jordan couldn’t swim and was terrified of water.

“(The truck driver) went to grab Jordan first, who said, ‘save my brother’. I can only imagine the fear coursing through his body," Mr Tyson, aged 46, said.

The flooding in Australia has so far claimed 13 lives.