Eastern Australia continues to suffer the effects of a devastating storm. At least seven people died and rescuers continued their operations on Wednesday, December 27, searching for the missing.
The dead, including a 9-year-old girl, are in the provinces of Queensland (northeast) and Victoria (southeast), which have been hit by storms and strong winds since Monday, causing tree falls and flash floods.
A boat with 11 people on board capsized near Brisbane, leaving two people drowning, police searching for a final missing crew member said. “The last 24 hours have been tragic because of the weather,” Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll told reporters.
Also read: Storm in Australia: One dead and 120,000 households without power on Christmas Eve
Women trapped in a drain
Rescuers have “serious concerns” about a 46-year-old woman who was sucked into a drain in Gympie, East, on Tuesday. She was not found, while of the two other women captured at the same time as her, only one survived.
The risk of “dangerous” thunderstorms, “life-threatening” flooding, “huge” hailstones and “destructive” wind gusts remains in regional Queensland, the Australian Weather Service has warned.
More than 80,000 households remain without power, said regional electricity supplier Energex, which on Tuesday commiserated with more than 120,000 customers affected by the blackout.
“How bad was the storm?” Strong enough to destroy several concrete poles supporting power lines,” the company described on social media.