Nine-year-old among 9 dead in Australia storm

A nine-year-old girl who was killed during severe thunderstorms in Australia has been named.

Mia Holland-McCormack was among at least nine people killed over Christmas Day and Boxing Day after the east of Australia was battered by high winds, large hailstones and torrential rain.

Described as having “loved adventurers” Mia’s family wrote on a GoFundMe page that she left home on 26 December over a fence just before a storm hit. She was found unresponsive a few kilometres away.

Victoria and Queensland Police confirmed three men were killed after a large boat with 11 on board capsized near Green Island in Moreton Bay, Queensland.

A 59-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree at the Queensland city of Gold Coast on Monday night, and the bodies of a 40-year-old woman and a 46-year-old woman were found in the Mary River in the town of Gympie.

They were among three women swept into the flooded river through a stormwater drain on Tuesday – the third, a 46-year-old woman, managed to save herself.

Tens of thousands of households have been left without power.

Meanwhile, the search continues for a missing 46-year-old woman who was caught in floodwaters in the city of Gympie.

Katarina Carroll, Queensland Police Commissioner blamed “extraordinarily difficult weather” for the tragedies.

“It has been a very tragic 24 hours due to the weather,” she told reporters.

A 29-year-old woman was rescued by Victoria Police after being swept away by fast running waters of the Werribee River.

She was swept 20 metres downstream after entering the water to try and save her dog, Minka, police said.

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The Bureau of Meteorology warned further rain is forecast and minor flood warnings are in place after rivers burst their banks.