Grave concerns for girl lost in Qld floods

| January 11, 2022

A 14-year-old girl swept away in floodwaters north of Brisbane on the weekend is still missing as residents in the region assess the damage after days of extreme weather.

Water levels started to drop on Monday after the remnants of tropical cyclone Seth dumped more than half a metre of rain on the Wide Bay-Burnett region in two days.

Many of the affected homes and businesses are in the regional city of Maryborough, which was issued with an evacuation order on Sunday after an underground stormwater mechanism failed, allowing floodwater to surge up through the drains.

Meanwhile a GoFundMe page for the missing girl, Krystal Cain, said she was swept away “in a torrent of water” on Saturday while travelling to Agnes Water to visit her grandparents.

“Krystal is still missing and we hold hope that she is still alive somewhere,” it says, describing the girl as a loving daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece and friend.

Water police, divers, volunteers and aerial support are assisting with the search, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his thoughts are with the girl’s family.

“I have a daughter who’s 14 years old, so I can understand the terrible, terrible time that family must be going through at the moment,” he said on Monday.

Mr Morrison also gave his condolences to the family of a 22-year-old man whose body was found in a submerged ute at Kanigan, north of Gympie, on Saturday.