New threat for storm-hit areas

Yet another wave of severe thunderstorms is set to impact the Gold Coast, with Queensland already reeling from the wild weather left several people dead.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that a severe storm will bring damaging winds and large hailstones to the southeast corner of the state, affecting the Scenic Rim and Gold Coast council areas.

The severe storm was detected near Rathodowney moving east at 5.35pm, with it forecasted to reach the McPherson Range at 6.35pm before moving into the city.

The threat of another storm wave is also looming, with the Bureau warning that the “next several hours” are set to be plagued by damaging wings and large hailstones.

“Thunderstorms are developing along the east coast of Queensland in a warm and humid air mass,” it warns.

“A weakening upper trough moving into the Tasman Sea may still lead to some of these thunderstorms becoming severe this afternoon and evening.”

It comes as the death toll from the devastating storms continues to climb, with a young girl among those who lost their lives.

Tributes have begun to pour in for the seven people killed in the storms, with many swept into floodwaters or rough seas.

The “unthinkable happened” when 9-year-old Mia Holland-McCormack was found unresponsive in a stormwater drain kilometres from her home on Wednesday.

A frantic search was sparked shortly after 6pm on Tuesday after the young girl jumped a fence at an address at Rochedale South in Logan.

The little girl was severely autistic and was swept into the storm water drain when another round of intense showers hit the area.

A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help her parents, Ryan and Kayla, with mounting funeral costs.

“As this devastating news comes to the harsh light of reality, so too does the added costs Ryan and Kayla are about to take on, already being a time where everyone is stretched after Christmas,” Tamara Turner wrote on the fundraiser.

Mia’s loved ones and strangers have offered their condolences.

“Mia has touched many hearts. We’re thinking of your whole family and sending love your way,” one person wrote.

“I have donated my pocket money. RIP little girl I see you and the other angels flying high in the sky,” one child said.

A second body has also been found after a group of women disappeared in floodwaters in Queensland’s Gympie region.

Police recovered the body of a 46-year-old Southside woman at around midday today in the Gympie weir, she was one of three women swept into floodwater at the Mary River

Another woman, a 40-year-old from Gympie, was discovered dead in the water at around 7pm on Tuesday night. The third woman, aged 46, was able to make it to safety before raising the alarm.

Police earlier on Wednesday discovered the body of third man missing after a boat carrying 11 people on an annual fishing holiday capsized during the Boxing Day storm on Moreton Bay off Brisbane.

Police were able to rescue eight people from waters around Green Island after they were alerted to distress calls from the 39ft pleasure vessel shortly after 1pm on Tuesday.

Acting Chief Superintendent Andrew Pilotto told the media on Wednesday police had since located the body of the three remaining men.

Two of the men have been identified — teacher Stephen Tait, 59, and rugby identity David Logan, 69. The third man was 48.

Superintendent Pilotto said

Mr Logan’s body was found in the water an hour after the search began, while the unidentified man was also located overnight.

The third unidentified man was found inside the vessel at 11am on Wednesday.

While Superintendent Pilotto said police were not able to speak yet to the cause of the capsizing, 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 on Moreton Bay.”

Tributes have poured in for Mr Tait, who was described as a many student’s “favourite” teacher.

Iona College, the school where Mr Tait worked, said it would continue to support the 58-year-old’s family.

“Prayers are offered for those affected and for the emergency services and rescue teams. All Ionians are asked to pray for Steve, his family and everyone affected,” the school said in a statement.

Parents have taken to social media to express their sadness at his death.

“A very loved and valued community member here in the bayside. My son’s fav teacher. A beautiful family … So sad,” one mother wrote.

“Absolutely heart breaking. My sons favourite teacher. My heart goes out to his family,” another said.

Others have expressed their sadness at the loss of Mr Logan, a former rugby personality who had begun teaching.

“So tragic, Dave was a great bloke, the life of every party. Taken too soon. RIP mate,” one person wrote about Mr Logan.

A 59-year-old woman, Robyn Carman, was killed when she was crushed by a falling tree while walking home from a car breakdown on Christmas Day at Helensvale on the Gold Coast.

Meanwhile, families and businesses are being warned they will be left in the dark for days to come after horror storms wreaked havoc on critical electricity infrastructure.

More than 91,000 homes were still without power on Wednesday after a fourth day of severe storms and heavy rains, 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.

Mr de Brenni said the task of getting power back online could “become more significant before it gets better” as the day progresses.

“All available crew are deployed, another 80 crews are coming from Brisbane,” he said.

“A restoration plan is set to be released in the next day or so, street by street, suburb by suburb will have a clearer expectation (of when power will be restored).

Mr de Brenni said energy crews were reporting unprecedented levels of damage, with many not seeing this kind of destruction in 40 years.

“There is a lot of pressure on first responders,” he said.

“It’s a busy time of year and weather events like this don’t make it any easier. But we have the best training in the world.

“We prepare each and every year for this perfect storm scenario.

“It is going to be tough (in the coming days).”

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’?

“And, so while we’re working as quickly as we can, we’ve got to do that as safely as possible.

“In the next day or so we’ll be able to publish a full restoration plan.

“That will give you a street by street, road by road, and suburb by suburb … a clear expectation around when your power will be restored.”

It comes as the region’s hospitals are placed on a code brown and staff recalled from leave ahead of potential heatwaves on Thursday and Friday.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate lashed the Bureau of Meteorology over the “slow” alerts residents received on Christmas Day, describing it as “unforgivable”.

“We’ll be talking to BOM about what’s going on, we can’t warn people unless they give us the data,” he said.

“We’ve got to sort it so that it doesn’t happen again.

“Post this event we’ll be asking specific questions as to why that happened. I don’t want to add pressure while they’re in the midst of doing things. We’ll round back.”

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said the Bureau has always been “very professional” when he’s directly dealt with them.

“They walk a fine line, often if they predict more than what occurs they get criticised and if they predict less than what occurs they get criticised,” Mr Miles said.

“I’ve always found them very professional to deal with. It’s very hard for them to be predicting the kinds of the kinds of events that we haven’t really seen before.”

Mr Tate said the “almost tornado” caused significant damage, with wind speeds at the seaway recording 106km per hour while in the heart of the storm some people recorded gusts of up to 160km per hour.

“By definition that’s a category 2 wind speed,” Mr Tate said.

“That’s the damage and from that information we can review what it looks like when there’s a category 2 wind coming.”

Mr Tate said there’s low risk storms forecast for the region on Wednesday.

“We’re not out of the woods but appears the SES can continue its recovery,” he said.

“Thursday and Friday there’s a heatwave condition, (which means) hot and the task for us is really going to get the energy back on so the aircon can get on.”

Those impacted by power outages are encouraged to visit council facilities, including libraries, to seek airconditioning and comfort during the heatwaves.

Mr Tate said council was also assessing whether some New Year’s Eve events will go ahead as wind and heat conditions intensify.

“We’re assessing all the venues right now,” he said.

“It’s going to be very warm.

“We’ll have to cancel some areas depending on fires and condition of the wind which could carry sparks.”

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon warned the Bureau of Meteorology had warned of renewed flooding over the coming days in areas north of the Gold Coast.

She said the government was looking at activating personal hardship grants for affected homes, but did not provide a timeline for when that would happen.

It comes as a desperate search remains underway for a Brisbane school who is among two missing after the fierce storms in Queensland’s southeast that left five people dead.

Emergency services across the state, and the country, grapple with devastating storms that have damaged critical infrastructure and caused flash flooding.

Forecasters predict the wet and wild weather that has so far plunged more than 200,000 Queensland homes into darkness to continue.

Premier Steven Miles said on Tuesday that Christmas Day storms had caused “unprecedented” damage, including uprooting concrete power poles for the first time.

Across the state’s southeast there were reports of boats being upturned, roofs being destroyed, and flash flooding swallowing cars, including in Brisbane’s south.

Further south, a woman was killed at a campground in East Gippsland and another was rescued alongside her dog from the Werribee River in Victoria following storms there.

A man was killed on Tuesday by a tree branch at a property in Caringal, east of Melbourne.

Emergency services in the state continue to battle widespread flooding on Wednesday, with flood warnings in place for the Avoca and Loddon rivers.

In NSW, SES crews responded to more than 470 calls for help on Boxing Day, with hail causing havoc across Maitland and the Hunter Valley region.

The state is also grappling with tragedies.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that Khattab Abu Haish, 19, went missing in surf off Congo Beach, near Moruya, about 3.30pm on Tuesday.

Later that day, a 35-year-old man drowned while paddleboarding at the newly opened Penrith Beach in Sydney’s west. His body was located on Wednesday.