A teacher, a rugby personality and a nine-year-old girl are just some of the victims of the wild storms that battered Australia's east coast as the death toll rises to ten.
The 'unprecedented' cyclonic storm tore through south-east Queensland on Christmas and Boxing Day, bringing heavy rain and damaging winds and gales.
Nine-year-old Mia Holland-McCormack died on Boxing Day after being swept into a drain by floodwaters as she jumped the fence of her family's home in Rochedale South, south-east Brisbane.
Brisbane Rugby identity David 'Mario' Logan and teacher Stephen 'Taity' Tait were also pronounced dead after a boat carrying 11 people capsized near Green Island, in Moreton Bay, about 5.30pm on Boxing Day.
A Tingalpa man, 59, was confirmed as the third person to die from the accident when he was discovered on Wednesday morning. Eight people survived.
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
Superintendent Andrew Pilotto said the group had been on their annual fishing trip when they encountered conditions that were “difficult to survive.”
He thanked water police, volunteer rescue police and the coastguard for their “exceptional courage” during the height of the storm and for saving eight people.
Robyn Carman, 59, died just 100 meters from her Gold Coast home on Christmas night after being struck by a falling tree.
Queensland police confirmed the deaths of two women on Wednesday after three hikers were dragged into the Mary River near Gympie.
One of the women was able to swim to shore and call for help. The bodies of a 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 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.
It comes as one GoFundMe was created to support the parents of the nine-year-old girl who died, Ryan and Kayla, in the aftermath of her tragic death.
“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.'
'Unprecedented' storms on the Gold Coast ripped trees apart (photo, branches in Oxenford)
Severe thunderstorms have produced large hailstones (pictured) in northern NSW
Ten people have died during horror storms in south-east Queensland (pictured)
Meanwhile, Mr Logan is remembered as 'one of the best' by the Brother's Rugby League Club, where he volunteered.
“In a club with so many big names and legends, 'Mario' stood at the top as one of Brothers' most favorite sons,” said club chairman Geoff Rodgers.
“The Brothers family is so saddened by Mario's passing, but we will always remember how privileged we were to have had him in our lives.”
Iona College, the school where Mr Tait taught, released a statement before his death asking Ionians to pray for Steve, his family and everyone involved.
“The College will continue to support Steve's family during this time,” the college said.
It comes after the Gold Coast mayor 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
Nearly 30,000 people were left without power in eastern Melbourne and Victoria after being hit by 'unplanned' outages
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.
A fallen tree crashed into a parked motor vehicle at Coomera on the Gold Coast
More than 92,000 people are without power in southeast Queensland as about 950 power lines and other energy services are damaged (pictured)
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.