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The Telegraph
The Telegraph
27 Dec 2023
Our Foreign Staff


Nine people die as storms cause havoc in eastern Australia

At least nine people have died after Christmas and Boxing Day storms pounded Australia’s eastern seaboard, including two women who were washed through a stormwater drain, police said.

Thunderstorms and destructive winds have in recent days battered the states of Victoria and Queensland – capsizing boats, sparking flash floods and tearing down concrete-based powerlines. The storms followed heavy flooding in Far North Queensland in mid-December.

The bodies of a 40-year-old woman and a 46-year-old woman were found in the Mary River in the Queensland town of Gympie. They were among three women swept into the flooded river through a stormwater drain on Tuesday. Another 46-year-old woman managed to save herself.

The women had been “exploring” the big stormwater drain, police said. By Wednesday police divers had recovered the bodies of two of the women. The third was washed onto the banks of a nearby river.

The body of a nine-year-old girl was found on Tuesday in the Queensland capital Brisbane hours after she disappeared in a flooded stormwater drain.

Also near Brisbane, three men were killed after a 39-foot yacht with 11 people aboard capsized in rough weather in Moreton Bay.

Ambulances took the eight survivors to hospital in stable conditions.

A 59-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree at Queensland’s Gold Coast south of Brisbane on Monday night. 

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll blamed “extraordinarily difficult weather” for the deaths.

“It has been a very tragic 24 hours due to the weather,” Ms Carroll told reporters.

An emergency worker during a rescue operation in the midst of flood waters after heavy rain at the Buchan campground in east Gippsland, east of Melbourne in Victoria
An emergency worker during a rescue operation in the midst of flood waters after heavy rain at the Buchan campground in east Gippsland, east of Melbourne in Victoria Credit: Victoria Police/AFP

Severe weather has also disrupted parts of  Victoria.

A woman, who is yet to be identified, was found dead late on Tuesday after flash flooding receded at a camp ground at Buchan in regional Victoria.

Earlier on Tuesday, a 44-year-old man was killed by a falling branch at his rural property at Caringal in eastern Victoria.

A damaged car from fallen trees after a storm in Helensvale on the Gold Coast, Queensland, on Wednesday
A damaged car from fallen trees after a storm in Helensvale at the Gold Coast, Queensland, on Wednesday Credit: JASON O'BRIEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Thunderstorms and strong winds have also brought down more than 1,000 power lines in parts of Queensland and left tens of  thousands of people without electricity.

Utility company Energex said it was racing to restore electricity to more than 80,000 homes in the state.

“How strong were those storms? Enough to snap multiple concrete poles supporting high-voltage lines,” it posted on social media.