12/27/2023 5:13 am (act. 12/27/2023 5:20 am)
At least seven people have died in severe storms in eastern Australia. Flash flooding swept three women into a storm drain in the Queensland town of Gympie on Tuesday, authorities said. A 40-year-old woman died, one woman survived and the third woman is still missing. The search for the missing person was scheduled to continue Wednesday.
Not far from the city of Brisbane, two people drowned at sea when their boat capsized. Eight people were rescued from the water after the accident; one crew member was still missing. The body of a nine-year-old girl who was swept away by floodwaters has been recovered in a Brisbane suburb. There have also been deaths in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria.
Severe storms with strong winds have hit eastern Australia in recent days. In Queensland, tens of thousands of homes were left without power because electricity poles were knocked down. The Australian Weather Service continued to warn of “dangerous” storms, “life-threatening” flooding, “enormous” hail and “destructive” winds in Queensland.