14 year old girl still missing, after being swept away in flood water

UPDATE:

The desperate search for a missing fourteen-year-old girl was swept away in floodwater on Saturday, January 8. The girl, Krystal Cain, was caught in floodwater when fleeing a car that was submerged in floodwaters.

A GoFundMe for Krystal shares:

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said that police, and the public remained hopeful Krystal would be found alive and well.

“This is going to take some time; we are taking this ­extremely seriously,” Gollschewski said.

“While we have grave concerns, we are hopeful.”

Meanwhile, the clean-up effort across the Fraser Coast Regional Council region is well underway, with updates being regularly posted on the FCRC Facebook page:

EARLIER: Heartbreak and devastation: Queensland flood emergency continues

Well, it seems that 2022 has begun with ferocity. Many hoped that this would be a quiet year getting back to life before Covid-19. However, these hopes have been dashed by two cyclones, Seth and Tiffany, surging Omicron case numbers across the country, health workers at breaking point, and now, a major flood in Maryborough.

Maryborough, a town in Queensland just three hours north of the state’s capital, has been slammed by a record-levelling flood over the weekend. Peaking at 10 metres, the floodwaters surged through houses, businesses, and some of the most historic buildings Queensland has to offer.

Occurring due to an immense amount of rain in an upper catchment; the Mary River, along which Maryborough resides, flooded. Within a brief warning period, a flood levee was constructed to divert water away from the town CBD.

However, when a penstock gate valve in the storm water system failed to work, water began rising through the storm water drains, and into the area behind the levee, wreaking havoc on the CBD.

Flood evacuation siren is going off around Maryborough CBD. An underground valve has failed and water is now coming up through the storm water system …. It’s rendered the levee useless. Businesses are now flooding. pic.twitter.com/oAOyhBqXsf

— Joel Dry (@JoelDry7) January 9, 2022

The Fraser Coast Regional Council CEO, Ken Diehm, shared a post outlining exactly what a penstock gate is, for those confused and frustrated residents, angry that their properties and business were damaged because a brand new levee system didn’t function. The post is as below.

Speaking to ABC Radio on January 10, Mayor George Seymour shared:

“All day Saturday we constructed the temporary levee to protect the CBD and then when the floods started to rise there was a failure in the stormwater system, which meant a penstock gate stopped, and it couldn’t stop the flood coming up underneath the barricades.”

“So when that happened we brought in 12 pumps and generators and pumped water out over the barricade as it was coming underneath.”

The flooding in Maryborough, QLD peaked at 10 meters. Many businesses in the CBD were saved thanks to 12 pumps brought in by the Fraser Coast Council which pumped out 120 liters of water per second! Still a major event that will require a massive clean up effort @BreakfastNews

— Michael Rennie (@mf_rennie) January 9, 2022

More than 20 people were accessing resources at the emergency evacuation centre at the time of the interview, shared Councillor Seymour.

Some residents of Maryborough have taken to social media to share their images of the vast devastation this weather event has caused:

Our thoughts go out to all in Maryborough, and especially to those who have been impacted by this flood.