Teen girl missing for days in Qld floods
Marty Silk |
The search for missing Victorian teenager Krystal Cain, who was last seen in floodwaters in southeast Queensland, has entered a fifth day.
The 14-year-old became separated from her father when their car was submerged in floodwaters on the Burnett Hwy near Booubyjan, northwest of Gympie, in the early hours of Saturday.
Police have grave concerns about Krystal and will on Thursday reveal whether the search will be scaled back
Emergency services and volunteers in helicopters, boats, trail bikes, 4WD vehicles and on horseback have been looking for the teen.
Bauple farmer Steve Bottcher, 52, and a 22-year-old Sunshine Coast man were killed in the floods after ex-cyclone Seth dumped more than half a metre of rain on the Wide Bay-Burnett region.
There were tributes for Mr Bottcher after the father-of-five was swept away when his boat capsized on his property on Monday night.
“Steve was a very fun loving man who was always up for a yarn and some coldies,” friend Haelee Faithfull wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for funeral costs.
“It’s such a sad loss for his family and friends and our community.”
The Wide Bay-Burnett region is still experiencing widespread flooding, with North Burnett acting mayor Robbie Radel saying his area will struggle to recover.
Emergency crews have started assessing the damage in the region near Maryborough after floodwaters cut off the Burnett Hwy, swamped an entire town and almost added to the death toll.
Mr Radel said floodwaters came close to claiming more lives in his region, with the town of Dallarnil the worst hit.
“More or less the entire community of Dallarnil has been inundated, with a house outside town washed away with a man and two dogs inside,” he told AAP.
“They managed to locate him and one of his dogs. He had clung to a tree but if that branch had broken we could so easily have lost someone.”
The acting mayor said there were reports of local families sitting on water tanks for up to six hours before being rescued, with some homes left uninhabitable after water levels reached the ceiling.
Meanwhile, the clean up is under way in Maryborough, where at least 30 homes and 50 businesses were damaged.
Receding floodwaters have revealed burst gas pipelines, a massive sink hole and “phenomenal” road damage but Fraser Coast councillor Paul Truscott is confident Maryborough will soon bounce back.
“I would say by this weekend in the CBD you would hardly be able to tell there has been a disaster,” he told AAP.
AAP
