A man’s body was discovered in flood-affected regional Victoria, increasing the death toll from recent storms in eastern Australia to 10.
Victoria police were alerted on Wednesday to the man who had been camping with a woman found dead after flash flooding in Buchan, East Gippsland, on December 26. The man, whose identity is still unconfirmed, was found later that afternoon.
Emergency services had previously recovered the woman’s body from the Buchan Caves campground, severely damaged by the flooding.
Federal Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester, praised Parks Victoria for relocating campers to safer areas and described the scene as resembling an “inland tsunami.” He expressed condolences to the affected families and the emergency workers involved.
Tragic storms claim lives across Australia, with capsized yacht and flood deaths reported.The storms have also claimed the lives of nine others across Australia. In Moreton Bay, near Brisbane, a yacht capsized on Boxing Day, resulting in the deaths of three men aged 48, 59, and 69. Queensland police described the conditions as “horrific,” with extremely poor visibility.
In Gympie, two women exploring the local “Love Tunnel” stormwater drains were killed by the storm. One body was found near the Mary River, and another in the Gympie weir.
A third woman survived with moderate injuries. The incident follows the death of a 14-year-old boy who went missing while tubing on the Mary River.
A nine-year-old girl in Brisbane was swept away in a stormwater drain, and her body was later recovered. The storms also caused fatalities in Caringal, Victoria, and on the Gold Coast, Queensland. One man remains missing at Congo Beach in New South Wales, having been swept out to sea in rough conditions.