Victorian boy takes storm death toll to 11 as Tanya Hehir named as Gympie drowning

A Victorian boy is the latest victim of wild weather over the festive season which threatens to belt southeast Queensland with more storms this weekend.

Len la Tours in the remains of his home, which was destroyed in the deadly storms which lashed South East Queensland over Christmas. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Scott Powick

A Victorian boy is the latest victim of wild weather over the festive season which threatens to belt southeast Queensland with more storms this weekend.

The primary school-aged child was struck by a large tree branch at a private property with family at Gowangardie, near Shepparton, around 8am on Thursday. He could not be saved and died at the scene.

It is the fourth death in Victoria linked to dangerous storms since Christmas Day, with a further seven killed in Queensland, including a nine-year-old girl and rugby friends.

Parts of Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast are hastily continuing to clean up through a severe heatwave with high humidity ahead of further storms to ring in the new year.

A new rainy weather system will likely develop over Queensland’s southeast on Saturday and bring the potential for more “high-end calibre” storms before moving north, said Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Felim Hanniffy.

“Certainly a lot of showers this weekend and into the new year, I’m afraid,” Mr Hanniffy said.

“That weather system will move over the southeast and offer a reprieve from those very hot and humid conditions … but it does come at a price. It does bring the risk of that significant shower and storm activity as it flushes out those high temperatures.”

A fallen tree causes major pedestrian and traffic hazards at Coomera on the Gold Coast after a massive storm. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Scott Powick

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said they had two days to “get ready” before more intense storms are set to hit the region.

“We are fortunate to have two days’ reprieve,” he said.

“It’s time to get ready.”

Ninety per cent of homes affected by the severe damage to the power grid sustained this week are expected to be back online by the new year. It is expected to take longer in the hard-hit parts of the Gold Coast Hinterland such as Mt Tamborine and Jimboomba, where the power system has to be completely rebuilt.

One of the two women who died in the Boxing Day tragedy in Gympie has now been identified as mother and avid adventurer Tanya Hehir.

The 46-year-old was exploring a popular stormwater drain known as the “Love Tunnel” with two friends when a recent storm caused a surge of water, which washed them into the Mary River.

While one survived, a search was launched, locating the body of a 40-year-old woman on Tuesday evening. Ms Hehir’s body was found around midday on Wednesday near the Gympie Weir.

Ms Hehir was a mother of two and a popular figure within the local running community. She was a Grandmaster runner in the local division of the international running group Hash House Harriers, which she joined in 1992.