Queensland storms: Seven dead after wild weather, more storms on horizon

Queensland MP David Crisafulli, left, looks at the damage from the storm in the Gold Coast area. Photo / @David Crisafulli MP, Facebook

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology says Queensland’s severe weather, which has left seven dead since Christmas, is set to ease but more storms could be on the horizon. Wild weather that claimed seven lives in Queensland over the festive season is expected to ease but more storms could be on the way.

The Bureau of Meteorology says severe thunderstorms that hammered the state’s southeast on Christmas and Boxing Day will start clearing on Thursday. However, there is still a possibility of severe storms, damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and large hail between Mackay and Brisbane.

⛈️Thursday forecast: low (10 to 20%) chance of severe thunderstorms between St Lawrence and Redcliffe. Thunderstorms becoming more isolated on Thursday and Friday, increasing over the southeast on Saturday. Today's warnings: https://t.co/FBmpsInT9o pic.twitter.com/imtAOXHsAb

— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) December 27, 2023

Heatwave conditions will also persist in the state’s north, west, and storm-ravaged southeast, where maximum temperatures are well above average.

The hot weather will continue into the weekend when a new trough, possibly bringing more rain and thunderstorms, will extend across western, central, and southern Queensland.

Seven people, including a nine-year-old girl, died on Christmas and Boxing Day as storms swept across the state’s southeast.

The girl’s body was found on Tuesday evening after she was lost in a Brisbane stormwater drain.

Three people died after their boat capsized in Moreton Bay on Tuesday afternoon.

The victims were a 48-year-old from Alexandra Hills, a 69-year-old from Meridan Plains, and a 59-year-old from Tingalpa.

They were among 11 passengers on board the boat, with paramedics taking eight to hospital in a stable condition.

The body of a 46-year-old woman was recovered in the Gympie Weir on Wednesday, following a search of the Mary River. A 40-year-old woman’s body was retrieved from the river on Tuesday night.

One of the areas hardest hit by storms was the Gold Coast, where a woman was killed by a falling tree on Monday night.