Ten people have been confirmed dead after storms swept through Queensland and Victoria over the Christmas period.
Among them is nine-year-old girl Mia Holland-McCormack, who reportedly jumped the back fence of the family home and was last seen wandering along Palara Street in Rochedale South near Logan in Queensland on Boxing Day.
The family of the severely autistic girl frantically alerted authorities but she was later found in floodwaters after being swept away in a storm water drain.
Two former Queensland rugby union players are also among the dead.
David Logan, a teacher at Brisbane’s prestigious Nudgee College, and Stephen Tait, who taught at Iona College, both played for Queensland and were aboard a boat that capsized off Green Island on Brisbane’s bayside on Tuesday. A third body has since been located by police from the boating tragedy.
The boat was carrying 11 people on an annual fishing holiday.
Acting Chief Superintendent Andrew Pilotto told the media on Wednesday police were not able to speak yet to the cause of the capsizing, but he described the conditions in the water at the time as being “horrific”.
“The storm was still raging when they were rescued. I can’t tell you how long it would have been less than 45 minutes,” he said.
“But, it would have been very difficult to survive in those conditions. Anywhere, let alone out of Moreton Bay.”
In Gympie, Queensland, on Tuesday three women were exploring a stormwater drain affectionately known as “The Love Tunnel” when a surge of water from a recent storm swept them into the currents of the Mary River.
One woman managed to reach the safety of the riverbank, but the body of a 40-year-old was discovered near the entrance of the drain last night.
The search for her friend, a 46-year-old woman continued on Wednesday.
Meanwhile in Victoria, two campers were killed in East Gippsland
A man’s body was found in Buchan on Wednesday afternoon. It came after a woman’s body was found at the same spot the day before. It’s thought the pair were camping together.
Victoria Police said number of people had to be rescued from the camping ground as waters rose and cars were left underwater following flash flooding.
“A search began of the flood-affected area and the man, who is yet to be formally identified, was located deceased,” police said on Wednesday.
The Boxing Day deaths follow that of Robyn Carman, 59, who died on Christmas Day after being crushed by a tree at Helensvale on the Gold Coast, while a 44-year-old man was killed after a branch fell on his property in Caringal, in Victoria’s east.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles said he was “heartbroken” over the deaths.
“I’m heartbroken to hear of the people who died overnight from the destructive storms in southeast Queensland.
“Every Queenslander will have those families in our thoughts and prayers.”
It comes as Queensland families are being warned they will be left in the dark for days to come after the horror storms wreaked havoc on critical electricity infrastructure.
More than 91,000 homes were still without power on Wednesday according to the state’s energy supplier, Energex.
Queensland Energy Minister Mark de Brenni said storms had felled some 950 powerlines across the state’s southeast on Tuesday, 800 of which were on the Gold Coast.
“We’re likely to see that number grow throughout today as our crews are able and better weather conditions to make more assessments,” Mr de Brenni told the media.
“So, the task could actually become more significant before it gets better.
“We have all available crews deployed (and) we have a number of crews coming from Brisbane”.
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Mr de Brenni said the priority was to first restore power to critical infrastructure, including water treatment, with a plan to be made in coming days for impacted homes.
“Once we’ve done these assessments we’ll be able to publish a restoration plan,” he said.
“I know the question that many people will be asking is ‘how long have I got to wait’?
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2023-12-27 16:48:33Z
CBMiqAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9xdWVlbnNsYW5kL25ld3MvZWlnaHQtcGVvcGxlLWNvbmZpcm1lZC1kZWFkLWluLWJveGluZy1kYXktc3Rvcm1zLWluLXF1ZWVuc2xhbmQtYW5kLXZpY3RvcmlhL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvNDY3YjgwOTU5M2RhNTY2MGM2ZWYxOWRjYzI3Mzg5NmLSAQA
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