Key Points
- A woman in her fifties was killed by a falling tree during a severe storm on the Gold Coast on Monday night.
- More than 100,000 homes were left without power during the storm.
- The BoM has warned of damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hail for parts of Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
Severe weather is battering Australia's east coast with thunderstorms and flash flooding expected to continue across NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
After some centres likely had their wettest Christmas Day on record, more thunderstorm warnings have been issued for Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle and the Hunter region.
On Tuesday, a man died after being hit by a tree branch at his property in Caringal in Victoria's Gippsland region.
"Emergency services provided medical assistance however the 44-year-old Bunyip man died at the scene," Victoria Police told AAP in a statement.
Police are preparing a report for the coroner.
The State Emergency Service responded to more than 1,000 assistance requests over three days.
The bulk of the calls came from Frankston, Shepparton, Bendigo and the state's west but the focus was expected to shift to the east with a number of flood warnings issued, SES state agency commander Alistair Drayton said.
Gold Coast woman killed by falling tree
On Monday night, a 59-year-old woman sustained severe head injuries after being hit by a tree at Helensvale on the Gold Coast. She died at the scene.
"We were unable to revive her which was really quite confronting and quite sad," paramedic Jaye Newton said.
He described scenes "like a disaster zone" as he was forced to drive around fallen trees on the motorway.
"It was an extraordinary weather event," he said. "There were trees all over the road. We are talking whole big trees uprooted."
A supplied image shows a fallen tree and damage at the Coomera substation following wild weather on the Gold Coast on 25 December. Source: AAP / Supplied/Energex
More than 120,000 people are still without power across the south-east of the state.
82,000 of those homes without power are on the Gold Coast and there are 700 power lines down in the area.
"There'll be a couple of days of work there to rectify that," Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said.
"We've got powerlines down, even at our theme parks, so we're prioritising that as well."
Queensland Premier Steven Miles said the damage from the storm was currently being assessed.
"This is the first time we've seen a storm so intense in the southeast that it's taken down concrete power poles," he said.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is predicting more thunderstorms in the state's east and north for Tuesday afternoon and evening.
"It's likely to be another stormy one, with severe thunderstorms possible," meteorologist Angus Hines said.
"More damaging winds, large to giant hail and areas of heavy rain are all a possibility."
Queenslanders have been warned to secure their property and stay indoors.
BoM warns of continued wild weather as Queensland theme parks close
Damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hail are likely between Mackay and the Sunshine Coast, and are possible south of Charters Towers, according to the BoM.
Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms are predicted for Tuesday over eastern, northern, and far northern Queensland.
Dreamworld and other Gold Coast theme parks have closed on Boxing Day due to the storms.
In the far north, clean-up and repairs have continued, after severe flooding triggered by ex-tropical cyclone Jasper hit the region.
Seth Harriss recently lost his home metalworking machinery worth approximately $100,000 at Machans Beach in Cairns. Source: AAP / Brian Cassey
Twelve homes have been confirmed destroyed, 126 properties are severely damaged and 554 moderately so.
Close to 9,000 residents have received financial assistance payments.
Flood warnings remain in place for the Barcoo, Paroo River and Burnett rivers, with a flood watch for parts of the Cape York Peninsula.
Severe thunderstorm warning
Downed trees, particularly across roads as well as water entering houses made up a large number of assistance calls in Victoria.
"That's why we put a big emphasis on driving ... to the conditions, particularly with those flood watches," commander Drayton said.
VicEmergency has issued a severe thunderstorm warning, with damaging winds and heavy rain forecast across the Melbourne area.
It has also issued a severe thunderstorm warning across the Gippsland, Wimmera and Mallee regions.
Flood watches have also been issued for several rivers across the state with an escalated watch-and-act flash flood warning for Hedley, Welshpool, Toora and Port Franklin.
Threat of more severe storms in NSW
In NSW, large hail, heavy rain and flooding have lashed the Central West, Riverina, South Coast, Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter.
NSW State Emergency Service volunteers responded to 312 incidents on Christmas Day after 492 incidents on Christmas Eve, most of those in Sydney.
It was a white Christmas for some as heavy hail hit the Central West, blanketing lawns.
Residents in the small town of Grenfell were hardest hit when hail struck shortly after midday damaging homes, cars and windows.
There was also hail in Orange, Yass, and across the coast, as far north as Urbenville and Macksville.
Widespread storms along the east coast set the scene for a soggy Christmas Day. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi
SES crews responded to flood rescues at Albion Park, Kiama, Laggan in the Southern Tablelands and at Bemboka near Bega.
A family was rescued from knee-deep water at a caravan park in Kiama, assistant commissioner Sean Kearns said.
Hines said the wet weather would continue for days, including the threat of more severe thunderstorms.
"We're in the middle of an ongoing storm outbreak," he told ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday.
"We're just waiting for a big shift in the weather, a big front to bring something new and clear those storms out. But today is not that day."
Hines said severe thunderstorms were possible around much of southeast and central Queensland, as well as the northern parts of NSW.
"We might see a storm or two around Sydney this afternoon and into this evening as well," he said.
