Broughton Anglican College principal Ron Webb is thanking God after Wednesday's flash flood, which saw three men narrowly escape drowning.

The storm hit the school at 2:30pm as junior school students were preparing to leave for the day.

As children rode out the storm in classrooms, Mr Webb said torrential rain, lightning, thunder and hail took their toll on the cars of parents outside.

"I looked out the window and saw one of the parents’ cars floating down the creek!” he says.

Two school groundsmen discovered two toddlers in a car, which was surrounded by water up to the middle of the doors. As they were rescuing the toddlers, they noticed a baby on the back seat.

By the time they had ferried the children to safety, helped by a parent, the water was at chest-level, and one of the rescuers started being swept towards the roadway.

Mr Webb says the other two went to the man’s aid but feared they might be sucked under the water.

"They thought, "this is it'," Mr Webb says.

The men were swept over the school fence. However, two cars blocking the drainage system in the embankment between the school and the road lessened the current of the water and the three managed to stay afloat by holding onto an olive tree.

"We're just really thankful to God because there could have been six drownings," says Mr Webb, who wants to nominate the three men for bravery awards.

The normally dry creek that runs through the middle of the school overflowed by two metres, and the water rose to four metres towards the roadway.

Within an hour, the storm was over and children were boarding buses home. The storm left 35 cars written off, 6 classrooms with damaged carpet and debris over pathways and roads in the school.

The school had practiced a lockdown drill only a month beforehand.

"We had planned an evacuation drill but changed it because it was a wet day," Mr Webb says.

"Because we'd been through that, people seemed to deal with it in a very calm way."

Mr Webb says the support and cooperation of parents, children and the community has been an encouragement.

"The staff and kids responded really well," he says.

"I've been overwhelmed by the support of other Anglican schools, parents, the community and the Council.”

The College was closed on Thursday but will reopen on Friday, with some students in temporary accommodation as classroom carpets are replaced.

Photos courtesy of Scott Webster @ Matt Black Productions