The third victim of a shipping tragedy caused by 'horrific' storms that battered Australia's east coast over the Christmas period has been identified.
Robert Holden, 48, died along with former Queensland rugby players David Logan and Stephen Tait when their boat capsized in appalling conditions in Brisbane's Moreton Bay on Boxing Day.
The death toll from the storms stands at 10, including a nine-year-old girl swept away in a storm drain and victims of falling trees in both Queensland and Victoria.
Mr Holden was taking part in an annual fishing trip as part of a group of 11 friends near Green Island when 60mph winds hit the area, reducing visibility to just a few metres.
While the eight others on board were rescued, the bodies of Mr Logan, Mr Tait and Mr Holden could only be recovered in the aftermath of the storm.
Queensland Police Acting Chief Inspector Andrew Pilotto said it would have been a terrible last few moments for the three men.
Robert Holden (pictured with wife Michelle) has been identified as the third victim of a boat capsizing during wild storms on Boxing Day
“There were reports of people seeing it happen… but the conditions were horrific and visibility was limited to a few metres,” he said.
“I know the wind was over 60 miles an hour…I've been out on the bay about half the time and the swell is crazy. I imagine it was great.'
Mr. Holden's son, Joshua Holden. has created one GoFundMe page to help pay funeral costs and support his mother Michelle.
“My father was the breadwinner of our family and always took care of my mother and our family,” Joshua wrote.
“Our father was a great man who always put the needs of others before himself. He was trustworthy, dependable and a good man through thick and thin.”
As of Thursday evening, the page had raised more than $3,000 of its $10,000 goal.
Family friend Julie-Ann Clark also paid tribute on Facebook.
“I was saddened to hear that one of the men on board who died was Rob,” she said.
“I've known his wife Michelle since we were five years old. RIP Rob, you will be sorely missed.”
Mr Holden is remembered as a 'great man who always put the needs of others before himself'
The youngest victim of the 'mini-cyclones' that hit south-east Queensland over Christmas and Boxing Day was none-year-old Mia Holland-McCormack, who was swept into a drain by flooding on Boxing Day.
Mia, who was severely autistic, was reported missing earlier that afternoon after jumping the fence of her home in Rochedale South, in the south east. Brisbane.
a GoFundMe page was set up to support Mia's parents, Ryan and Kayla.
“On Boxing Day Eve, the unthinkable happened when Mia was found unconscious in the floodwaters,” the fundraising page said.
'Mia loved adventures and mischief, but being severely autistic also presented a challenge for her wonderful parents Ryan and Kayla.
'On the evening of December 26, 2023, Mia left home through the back fence, just before a storm hit. She was found in the water a few miles from home and unresponsive.
'As this devastating news hits the harsh light of reality, the additional costs that Ryan and Kayla are about to take on also increase as it is already a time when everyone is under pressure after Christmas stands.'
Pictured L-R: Victims David 'Mario' Logan, Mia Holland-McCormack and Stephen 'Taity' Tait
Mia Holland-McCormack, 9, (pictured) died on Boxing Day after being swept away by flooding as she jumped the fence of her family's Rochester South home
On Wednesday, Queensland Police confirmed the deaths of two women after they and a hiking companion were dragged into the Mary River near Gympie north of Brisbane.
Police say the three women were exploring a storm drain known as 'The Love Tunnel' when a heavy storm passed through, causing a flood of water into the drain.
While one woman was able to swim to shore and call for help, the others were swept away by the raging waters.
The bodies of the 46-year-old woman and a 40-year-old woman have now been recovered.
In Victoria, a woman who has yet to be formally identified was found dead at a campsite in Buchan in the Gippsland region.
It is believed she was camping with a man, whose body has also been recovered.
A Victorian man also died after being hit in the head by a falling tree branch while camping on a private property in Caringal, in the state's east.
Emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene on Tuesday.
Other victims of the storms include Robyn Carman, 59, who died just 100 meters from her Gold Coast home on Christmas night after being struck by a falling tree.
Ten people have died during horror storms in south-east Queensland (pictured)
In the wake of the deadly storms, a Gold Coast mayor has called on the Bureau of Meteorology to issue a severe weather warning after the storm had already started.
Mayor Tom Tate said he received a BOM alert at 9pm on Christmas, warning that severe storms would descend on the coast from 8.45pm.
Residents were warned via the emergency app a short time later.
“I think it's inexcusable,” he said.
“We're going to talk to BOM about what's going on with regard to the warning, because we can't warn people… it's not good enough.
“We have to sort it out so it doesn't happen again.”
Mr Tate said wind gusts of 100mph reached the threshold of a category two cyclone.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has called on the Bureau of Meteorology to issue a severe weather warning after the storm already caused extensive damage
A post on BOM Queensland's Twitter account shows a severe thunderstorm warning issued at 9:04pm on Monday
The Bureau responded, saying they had sent out several weather alerts throughout Christmas Day.
“The Bureau issued several severe thunderstorm warnings for damaging winds, giant hail and heavy rainfall for the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim (as well as other parts of Queensland) on Monday 25 December,” the statement said.
“We also communicated on Sunday, December 24 and Friday, December 22 about the risk of severe weather in eastern Australia.”
A post on BOM Queensland's Twitter account shows a severe thunderstorm warning issued at 9.04pm on Monday.
'Severe thunderstorm #warning continues across south-east Queensland. Large hail is likely during a thunderstorm near Rathdowney. The alert may soon be extended to Brisbane and Gold Coast,” the alert said.
Nearly 30,000 people were without power the entire time Melbourne and Victoria's east after being hit by 'unplanned' outages.
Nearly 30,000 people were left without power in eastern Melbourne and Victoria after being hit by 'unplanned' outages
A fallen tree crashed into a parked motor vehicle at Coomera on the Gold Coast
An AusNet spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that customers in Doreen, Hurstbridge, Mernda, Arthurs Creek, Yarrambat, South Morang and surrounding suburbs lost power at 9.51am.
The outage was due to an outage at the Doreen zone substation, with technical support 'dispatched to the site and all customers restored by 1pm'.
The storms also left about 92,000 people in south-east Queensland without power, including more than 8,000 in Tambourine Mountain west of the Gold Coast.
Queensland Energy Minister Mark de Brenni said storms had downed 950 power lines in the state's southeast on Tuesday, including 800 on the Gold Coast.
“We will likely see that number grow throughout the day as our crews and better weather conditions allow us to make more assessments,” Mr de Brenni told the media.
“So the task may actually become more important before it gets better. We deployed all available crews. We have a number of crews coming from Brisbane.”
Mr de Brenni said the priority is to first restore power to critical infrastructure, including water treatment, and a plan will be put in place in the coming days.