Destructive winds have knocked down massive trees in Charleville, Queensland. Photo / @Higgins Storm Chasing, Facebook
Destructive winds have knocked down massive trees in Charleville, Queensland. Photo / @Higgins Storm Chasing, Facebook
The number of people killed by storms in southeast Queensland has risen to four with another two people still missing in floodwaters and at sea.
Queensland Ambulance Service on Wednesday said two people had been found dead after a boat capsized at Moreton Bay on Tuesday afternoon with 11 people on board.
Paramedics transported eight people to hospital in a stable condition and one person remains unaccounted for after the incident near Green Island.
A search and rescue operation launched involving water police vessels, police divers, volunteer marine rescue and coastguard had resumed at first light on Wednesday.
The body of a 9-year-old girl was found on Tuesday evening after she was lost in stormwater drains in Brisbane.
# Manly Paramedics have transported 8 patients to various Brisbane hospitals following a boating incident in Moreton Bay late this afternoon. All are in a stable condition.
A fourth, that of a 40-year-old woman, was found in the Mary River in Gympie.
The Christmas storms had already accounted for one death on Monday when a 59-year-old woman was killed when she was hit by a fallen tree on the Gold Coast.
The girl’s body was located following an extensive search, said police, who added they did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances.
The statement added the family, from Rochedale South, “are requesting privacy at this difficult time”.
The woman recovered from the Mary River was one of three swept into the water by the Kidd Bridge. One woman, a 46-year-old, managed to get to safety. Another 46-year-old woman is missing with the search due to resume this morning.
Severe weather had lashed parts of Queensland’s southeast on Christmas and Boxing Day.
At Gympie a wind gust of 100km/h was recorded on Tuesday while golf ball-sized hail was spotted at Zillmere in Brisbane’s north.
At Jindalee in Brisbane’s southwest 62mm of rain was recorded in an hour.
On Christmas Day, storms left more than 120,000 households without power and some were still cut off with more than 800 powerlines down across the southeast.
Storms have claimed the lives of three more people in southeast Queensland. Photo / @Higgins Storm Chasing, Facebook
The Bureau of Meteorology said some further severe thunderstorms are possible on Wednesday around central and northern parts of the Queensland coast, and potentially reaching south to Brisbane.
However by Wednesday afternoon conditions are expected to ease.
Heatwave conditions in the state’s north have prompted warnings from meteorologists, with maximum temperatures across the Gulf region expected to reach the low 40s on Wednesday.
