A terrified 10-year-old girl sent her family a series of pleading text messages after she was left stranded two kilometres from home in heavy rain. The Year Five student at Tallebudgera State School was told she would have to 'walk home' after the bus came across a flooded road on the Gold Coast on February 13. The young girl tried to text her mum using her iPad, but because it wasn't connected to WiFi, none of her panicked messages sent. Kinetic Buses, which is one of Australia's largest operators, runs over 50 routes on the Gold Coast, including a large number of school routes. Queensland's No Child Left Behind policy requires bus drivers to allow every child onto their bus, even if they don't have enough money for the fare.

Source: Daily Mail February 21, 2026 03:08 UTC