Teaming up with the volunteer rural fire service, the fire brigade and Territory and Municipal Services, the ACT State Emergency Service was busy from dawn to dusk. It had dealt with all the call-outs by yesterday evening.

The calls, spread throughout the territory, came predominantly from Kambah, Weston and Wanniassa.

While the flooding created relatively minor problems, the SES had not dealt with such a large volume of calls in a short space of time for a long time, according to ACT State Emergency Service chief officer Tony Graham.

Rain caused calamity in Queanbeyan where there were five car crashes.

Rain in the area was so extensive that crowds of people gathered along the banks of the Queanbeyan River, some remarking they had not seen it as deep or as fast-flowing in 40 to 50 years.

In Sutton Village on the road to Gundaroo, the McLaughlin Creek flooded for the first time since 1988. Sutton Rural Fire Brigade closed the road at the creek crossing and diverted all but four-wheel drives, which had to proceed with caution.

In Bungendore, a canoeist was rescued yesterday afternoon after deciding to go canoeing in floodwaters, SES spokesman Phil Campbell said. ''We are urging people not to enter floodwaters intentionally under any circumstances,'' he said.

Back in Canberra, staff of the RSPCA's Weston shelter had to scramble to shift cats to dry ground as the cattery flooded. The internal walls were damaged. Cats suffered no ill-effects - the adults leapt to higher ground and some were moved to the chief executive's office, training rooms and administration areas.

Rain caused several road closures in the ACT. Four roads were closed late yesterday afternoon until further notice: Oaks Estate Bridge, Boboyan Road, Angle Crossing, and McMahon Crossing.

Three youths were found riding the stormwaters on blow-up lilos in O'Connor yesterday. Mr Graham issued a stern warning to people to avoid such activities.

For emergency storm or flood assistance call the ACT SES on 132500.

For more on this story, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times.