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Missing man found dead, Premier warns 'Debbie is not done with us yet'

Amy Mitchell-Whittington
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Three men remain missing in cyclone-affected areas of the state after the body of a man in Logan was found on Saturday, and as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned "Cyclone Debbie is not done with us yet".

A third missing person was reported by police on Sunday, with the search focusing on the Mackay region. Police said John Frost, 58,  was last seen on Tuesday evening in Mount Pleasant.

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Hundreds more homes to flood

At least 323 homes are expected to be inundated across Logan as "unprecedented" river levels continue to rise throughout Friday night. Nine News

A public appeal has been launched for any information regarding Mr Frost's whereabouts, but a spokesman said there was no evidence to suggest he had been swept away in floodwaters.

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He was described as Caucasian, about 170 centimetres, thinly built, tanned skin, brown eyes, long grey shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail and grey facial hair. He was last seen wearing a grey shirt, blue shorts and white volley shoes.

A 77-year-old man who went missing from Eagleby, south of Brisbane, on Friday was found dead by emergency crews on Saturday after he was last seen crossing floodwaters. It is understood the tragedy is the first flood-related death to have occurred in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie in Queensland.

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Emergency crews were also still working to find a 50-year-old man who went missing west of Gympie on Thursday evening. He was last seen at 8pm after telling his family he was on his way to visit a friend on Campbells Road at Mondure, where parts of the road were flooded.

A man also remained missing in Lamington National Park after severe weather and flooding prevented emergency services from accessing the area. He has been missing since Wednesday.

Residents across south-east Queensland began the slow process of cleaning up after floodwaters at their homes on Saturday while those in Rockhampton began preparations for a major flooding event next week.

Additional emergency services personnel were sent to the region along with the Australian Defence Force, as Rockhampton prepared for a large-scale flood event in the city itself and in surrounding hinterland areas such as Dawson and Fitzroy River.

Damage assessments also continued across the state, with more than 4,000 properties having been checked between Mackay and Bowen and more than 500 in the south-east.

About 600 residences were declared uninhabitable up north from the assessments, while only 30 were not suitable in the south-east - but this number was expected to rise by two to three hundred on Sunday.

There was some good news from the weather bureau, with forecasts for the coming days indicating clear weather for the clean-up process.

"The good news is we're not expecting significant weather over Queensland for the next few days, apart from odd shower or two on coast," BoM regional director Bruce Gunn said.

Meanwhile, Logan residents braced for flood levels not seen since 1974, with 250 homes expected to be inundated with water, Logan Mayor Luke Smith declared the region was "in a state of natural disaster".

Logan River was expected to peak at 10.3 metres on Saturday as residents in low-lying suburb of Eagleby were bracing for a flood peak of six metres by Saturday evening.

Logan Hospital remained isolated after Loganlea Road was cut off in two sections, which prompted the state government to suspend tolls on the Logan Motorway to allow emergency hospital access.

Sewage overflows occurred in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and Logan River as well as the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay waterways, Queensland Health warned on Saturday.

Everyone in affected areas are warned to stay out of floodwaters.

Emergency crews worked to get resources out to isolated pockets at Jimboomba, a suburb of Logan, as Woodhill Rural Fire Brigade opened it's doors to provide hot showers, tea and coffee, food, water and power boards to help keep residents informed.

"People want to be well-informed, they want to know what's happening with the river – if it's rising or falling," First Officer Mr Heilbronn said.

Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan paid a visit to the Rural Fire Brigade volunteers and thanked them for their work.

"Across the state we've got people stepping up, not just our emergency services, but volunteers like the Woodhill Rural Fire Brigade … making sure we're keeping people safe and providing support when they need it," he said.

Residents in the Scenic Rim were urged to conserve drinking water as additional water was tankered into the region to supplement storage levels.

Biosecurity Queensland will be monitoring the effects, if any, the Logan River flooding will have on the ongoing prawn farms in the region after white spot disease was found in wild prawns in the river earlier this year.

At 5pm on Saturday, more than 16,000 homes remained without power across the south-east as 200 Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service volunteers worked on the central coast with the priority of restoring power to homes that had been without electricity for days.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stopped off in Mackay on Saturday morning to announce the availability of hardship grants of $150 per person or $750 to families of five or more who have gone without power, gas or water for five days or longer across Mackay and the Whitsundays.

"These grants for loss of essential services will help residents get back on their feet," she said.

"We know that the loss of power for days on end can mean spoiled food and force the purchase of bottled water, and these grants can help cover some of these costs for affected residents."

The grants were available on top of the $180 offered to individuals or $900 for families as part of the Federal Government's natural disaster relief funding.

By Friday afternoon, the Community Recovery Hotline had already taken 3300 calls from people needing information and support to apply for these grants.

Across the central coast region, the Shute Harbour Jetty, the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, remains closed for the "foreseeable future".

People in Bowen, Airlie Beach and Canonvale have been told not to drink water from the tap or to boil it because it may contain bacteria levels that exceed normal levels.

"Whitsunday Regional Council will continue to monitor the situation and is working closely with Queensland Health until the system is completely restored to normal and we are confident there is no longer a public health concern," a council website alert read.

In a small sign of recovery, the Whitsunday Coast Airport announced it would be open on Sunday and will receive commercial flights into the area.

Queensland's famous pie factory, Yatala Pies, continued it's clean-up after about 20 centimetres of water inundated the building and claimed about 10,000 pies in the process.

On Saturday afternoon the Premier visited Rockhampton where she told residents to start preparing for severe flooding.

Low-lying parts of the city are expected to be hit with flooding at levels not seen since 1954, with the Fitzroy River expected to peak at 9.4 metres on Wednesday.

"Some people living in this town have not seen a flood of this magnitude because the last time was in 1954," she said.

"We could see over 3000 home impacted, over 1500 businesses so now is the time to prepare, now is the time to get ready.

"Cyclone Debbie is not done with us yet."

SES workers erected temporary levees at Rockhampton Airport and the north Rockhampton suburb of Berserker and residents in affected areas were urged to evacuate to higher ground.

"It is a building block affect, every moment new information comes to hand and we can get much better predictions about what those heights will be," Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said in an emergency briefing on Saturday morning.

"Those of you in low-lying areas...check local government maps...if you can move your property now I would suggest you do that."

Rockhampton Mayor Margaret Strelow said Rockhampton Airport and the railway would go under during the flood event.

"We will lose our airport, we will lose the railway," she said.

It is understood the airport was likely to close at noon on Monday and was expected to be closed for about a week.

"We won't get a wall of water but we will get a gentle inundation...the height of this will have a serious impact on the economy," she said.

"We recognise that people are going to do it tough for a little while, we will have an evacuation centre for those who need it."

Twenty-three paramedics from across the state, along with additional vehicles, will be sent to Rockhampton in the coming days in preparation of the flooding.

For more information and resources, visit the state government's Disaster Management website.

- with AAP, Toby Crockford, Cameron Atfield

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