Flood’s Queensland death toll reaches 10 as man’s body found at port
A man’s body has found been found after catastrophic floods in southeast Queensland, taking the death toll to 10, with another man still missing.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll . (Photo: AAP Image/Albert Perez)
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll says the 53-year-old’s body was found under a wharf at the Port of Brisbane on Thursday night, four days after he was reported missing.
He’s the 10th person to die after three days of relentless rain triggered flash flooding and caused major rivers to break their banks across a vast areas from Gympie to the NSW border.
“All of these deaths, all of these deaths are flood-related, some completely unexpected where water has risen very, very quickly in areas that we’re not used to,” Ms Carroll told reporters on Friday.
“So over the next few days as to showers and storms and rain continues please be aware of that flash flooding, be aware of your circumstances.”
The commissioner confirmed that another man is still missing after he was seen falling from a boat on the Brisbane River near Breakfast Creek on Saturday.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services completed another two swiftwater rescues overnight and responded to almost 200 calls for help.
QFES Commissioner Greg Leach said there have been 650 swiftwater rescues and emergency services have received almost 12,000 calls for help since the floods began on the Sunshine Coast 11 days ago.
“We still have around 900 tasks outstanding so it will take us another two to three days to get to you,” he said.
“So if you are waiting for SES assistance, please be patient we will get to you.”
Communities are still cut off by floodwaters and up to 17,000 homes and businesses are damaged.
More than 15,000 residents are without power and schools remain closed across the southeast due to concerns about “unsettled weather”.
There are 260 people still living in emergency evacuation centres with communities west of Brisbane and north of the city in Gympie still cut off by floodwaters.
Police and Defence Force troops are dropping food, water and medical supplies to those cut off.
Weather conditions are clearing on Friday, but Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Laura Boekel said it wasn’t a “typical situation” as any more rain on saturated catchments across the southeast could trigger flash flooding.
“There is the possibility of some severe storms today, they don’t need to be severe for us to see impacts across the southeast,” she told reporters.
A flood watch remains in force over Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, the Sunshine and Gold Coasts but the Bureau of Meteorology’s last update at 6pm on Thursday said an unpredictable trough had moved north of Bundaberg.
