Ten people dead in wild Christmas storms across eastern Australia

Tragically, a tenth person has now been confirmed dead from the devastating Christmas storms after a camping ground was inundated.

Ten people, including a nine-year-old girl, are now known to have died in the devastating Christmas storms that lashed eastern Australia.

A man’s body was found in Buchan, in Victoria’s east Gippsland region, on Wednesday afternoon.

It came after a woman’s body was found at the same spot the day before. It’s thought the pair were camping together.

Victoria Police said number of people had to be rescued from the camping ground as waters rose and cars were left underwater following flash flooding.

“A search began of the flood-affected area and the man, who is yet to be formally identified, was located deceased,” police said on Wednesday.

The bodies of two women in Queensland were also found on Wednesday.

Queensland Police said a 40 year old and 46 year old failed to surface from waters after going swimming at Kidd Bridge in Gympie. They went missing near a large storm drain when the area was inundated by water.

A third woman who was also in the drain escaped and was treated for head injuries.

Day after flash flooding hit the Buchan and the Camping ground. Two people have been discovered deceased. Source: 9news

Emergency workers rescuing a woman from flood waters after heavy rain at the Buchan campground in east Gippsland, located east of Melbourne. (Photo by Handout / VICTORIA POLICE / AFP)

Nine year old dead

Those four deaths have added to a grim storm toll.

On Boxing Day, a girl of nine was swept away in a flooded storm drain in the Brisbane suburb of Rochedale South.

It is understood the girl jumped a fence at about 6.30pm on Tuesday and was lost in surging waters. Paramedics rushed to the scene but she could not be revived.

A 59-year-old woman on the Gold Coast also died when she was struck by a falling tree.

Police say the woman was struck in the suburb of Helensvale around 9:30pm on Monday night as the state’s south east was hit with intense rain, large hail and fierce winds.

Another three Queenslanders died when a boat capsized near Green Island in Moreton Bay.

The ABC has identified one of the men who persihged on the boat as local rugby union identity David Logan.

“He was one of the greatest, fun-loving, most sincere and highest integrity people you could ever meet,” Brothers Club president Geoff Rodgers said of Mr Logan.

Earlier in Victoria, where storms also raged, a man died after being struck by a falling tree branch.

The death occurred in Caringal, in the Gippsland region in Victoria’s east, in the early hours of December 26.

“It is understood a tree branch fell on the man at a private property on Rusks Road just after 9am,” a statement from Victoria Police said.

“Emergency services provided medical assistance however the yet to be formally identified man died at the scene.”

A car stuck in floodwaters in Longlands St, East Brisbane, on Tuesday. Picture: Facebook.

Storms continue

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Angus Hines said conditions should begin to ease from Wednesday afternoon.

But prior to that some thunderstorms and rain could break out.

“A couple or areas of severe storms remain possible, from about Sydney across to Melbourne, primarily around the border.

“Some further severe thunderstorms are possible around central and northern parts of the Queensland coast possible clipping Brisbane at times,” said Mr Hines.

The BOM has forecast a smattering of showers in all three cities as well as Canberra, but it could be heavier anywhere a storm develops.

Storms are possible from Sydney to Melbourne including Canberra, and around the central Queensland coast. Picture: BOM.

Boxing Day washout

The storms were most severe in southeast Queensland, where more than 120,000 people were left without power on Tuesday night. By Wednesday that figure was down to 85,000 with more than 60,000 of those in the Gold Coast.

By Tuesday evening, the SES had responded to more than 1000 calls for help around the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan, according to Queensland Fire and Emergency.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the storms were extensive on Tuesday, stretching across almost the entire eastern seaboard.

Old Cleveland Rd completely underwater on Tuesday. Picture: Facebook.

Victoria shouldered some of the heaviest falls on Tuesday, including 69.4mm that fell on Buchan in just half an hour.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were also in place in Queensland, for Capricornia and parts of the central highlands, Coalfields, Wide Bay and Burnett.

Flash flooding is possible in Gladstone, Emerald, Rockhampton, Clermont, Calliope and Mount Morgan.

In Queensland, the wild storms were accompanied by strong winds, including a 100km/h gust recorded at Gympie and a 96km/h gust at Blackwater.