The search for two missing tourists has ended in tragedy. Police say they believe the deceased are a 26-year-old man and 23-year-old woman, believed to be Chinese nationals, who disappeared while driving from Brisbane to Queensland's flood-ravaged North Burnett region. Their silver Subaru was discovered on Wednesday afternoon in floodwaters near Kilkivan, inland between the Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg, with both bodies recovered the following morning.
The pair, identified as Qingwei Qiu and Yuchen Guo, had met online through a working holiday group and decided to travel north together. Major flooding reached 7.5 metres in Bundaberg around midnight Wednesday, similar to levels experienced in December 2010. By Sunday, when their journey began, the region was already experiencing extraordinary rainfall. Up to 400mm of rain fell in 24 hours before floodwaters "absolutely smashed" western areas including Kilkivan, Goomeri, Woolooga, Tansey and Manumbar.
Guo's father, Jianxiang Guo, described his daughter's final moments. According to reporting, she had posted on social media on March 7 that the rain was extremely heavy and she could barely see the road. Despite the conditions, the pair continued driving. The first flood-related deaths in the rain-hit region has devastated the community of Gympie, where the bodies were found, local mayor Glen Hartwig said. "They are two young people who have sadly passed away," he told AAP. "For their families who have to deal with this heartache, our thoughts and prayers go out to them."
The scale of the disaster facing affected communities is only now becoming clear. The central Queensland city of Bundaberg has been hit with its third major flood in 16 years. The Chinchilla community northwest of Brisbane is next in line after Bundaberg was flooded on Wednesday, inundating hundreds of houses and businesses. In the regions hardest hit, the recovery will stretch across months.
Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig spoke to the regional toll bluntly. "There's significant infrastructure damage. It is going to take a long time to repair," Mr Hartwig said. "Looking at the financial impact on farmers, it will be 12 months before they will take any money from these paddocks that have been destroyed."
Hartwig also raised concerns about how to better protect visitors unfamiliar with flood dangers. He said tourists need formal warnings about the risks. In Queensland driving into floodwater is the number one cause of flood-related deaths. Never drive through floodwater. If it's flooded, forget it.
The tragedy marks the beginning of what communities across Queensland now face: the difficult, costly work of rebuilding after one of the region's most severe weather events in years.