Death toll rises to 6 in Aussie floods

SYDNEY — The death toll from heavy rains that inundated Australia’s east coast has climbed to six, as flood warnings continued on Sunday following a severe deluge that cut power to thousands of homes and isolated numerous communities.

The eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) faced a huge clean-up task ahead, but were forecast to experience easing conditions on Sunday following two days of wild weather.

“Never before have we seen such a huge volume of rain drop in such a short period of time,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told broadcaster Channel Seven from the state’s capital Brisbane on Sunday.

A six-year-old boy became the sixth storm victim when he was swept away by rough seas at a northern NSW beach on Saturday, police and surf lifesavers said.

The boy was walking along South Ballina beach with his father and older brother when he was pulled into the ocean by stormy waters, according to the surf lifesavers.

Police said he was rescued by fishermen and flown to a nearby hospital, where he died.

Five people, including a five-year-old boy, also lost their lives on Friday when two four-wheeldrive vehicles were caught in flash flooding in Caboolture some 44 kilometers north of Brisbane.

Regional Mayor Allan Sutherland described the torrential downpour as a “one-in2000-year event.”

“To say we got smacked would be an understatement,” Mr. Sutherland told Queensland’s Courier Mail. “It’s surreal now. This nightmare just came through and took five souls.”

Caboolture was hit by 277 millimeters (10.9 inches) of rain in just three hours on Friday to take total rainfall in the area to 360 millimeters in less than 24 hours. —