/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/MHRRJFU6Z5CQRO25ZYTE6QPVJI.jpg "Three more dead as storms ravage southeast Queensland, three missing")
Destructive winds have knocked down massive trees in Charleville, Queensland. Photo / @Higgins Storm Chasing, Facebook
A young girl has died in Brisbane, a body been found in Moreton Bay and one in the Mary River, while three more people are missing after storms in Queensland.
The body of a girl, 9, was found yesterday evening after she was feared lost in stormwater drains in Brisbane.
Another body was recovered from Moreton Bay after a boating accident that is feared to have taken the lives of two more.
A 40-year-old woman was found in the Mary River in Gympie.
The Christmas storms had already killed a 59-year-old woman on Monday when she was hit by a falling tree on the Gold Coast.
The body of the girl was found after an extensive search, said police, who added they do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances.
Police said the family, from Rochedale South, “are requesting privacy at this difficult time”.
The second confirmed death followed a boat capsizing south of Green Island. Eight people were taken to hospital and a search-and-rescue operation launched involving water police, police divers, volunteer marine rescue and coastguard.
The search found one body but two people had not been accounted for when it was suspended just before midnight. The operation will continue at first light.
The woman recovered from the Mary River was one of three swept into the water by the Kidd Bridge. A 46-year-old woman, managed to get to safety but another 46-year-old woman is missing. The search is due to resume this morning.
Severe weather lashed parts of Queensland’s southeast on Christmas and Boxing Day.
At Gympie a wind gust of 100km/h was recorded yesterday 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.
The Bureau of Meteorology says further severe thunderstorms are possible today around central and northern parts of the Queensland coast, potentially reaching south to Brisbane.
However, conditions are expected to ease by this afternoon.
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 today.
