December 27th 2023.
Mia Holland-McCormack was a nine-year-old girl who tragically passed away on Boxing Day after being swept away by flood water during a brutal thunderstorm. Her family reported that she had jumped over a back fence at her home moments before the storm hit. Unfortunately, she was later found unresponsive in flood water a few kilometres away in Brisbane.
In her memory, her father's cousin Tamara set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for her funeral. In her post, Tamara wrote that Mia “loved adventures and getting up to mischief” and was an amazing child despite her severe autism.
Tragedy also struck elsewhere in Australia as the storm continued to rage. Three men were recovered from the water in Moreton Bay, Queensland, after a motorboat capsized with 11 people on board. Eight others were rescued and taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Furthermore, two women were found dead in the Mary River, near Gympie, following a search operation. A 59-year-old woman was also killed by a falling tree in Gold Coast while a man and woman were found dead at a campground at Buchan in regional Victoria.
Queensland Police commissioner Katarina Carroll attributed these tragedies to “extraordinarily difficult weather”. The storm caused more than 1,000 power lines to be brought down in parts of Queensland, leaving 85,000 people without electricity.
Tamara concluded her post by asking people to donate what they can to help cover funeral costs, grief counselling and time off work for Mia’s parents. During the storm, crocodiles were even seen swimming through the streets in some areas. It goes without saying that this was an incredibly difficult time for everyone in Australia, and the loss of Mia’s life is especially heartbreaking.
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