Utility companies said about 268,000 homes and businesses in southeast Queensland and another 12,500 in northeast New South Wales were still without power on Sunday.
“Customers need to be prepared to be without power for several days,” Queensland’s Essential Energy said.
“The biggest challenges to getting power back on will be rising flood waters and swollen creek beds, fallen vegetation and mudslides impacting access roads,” it said in a statement.
About 14,600 people are under emergency warnings related to the weather system in New South Wales, the state’s emergency services said.
“In the last 24 hours, 17 incidents have occurred as a result of people driving into flood waters,” said emergency services deputy commissioner Damien Johnson.
“Not only is it a danger to yourself and your family, it is also dangerous as well for the volunteers, the emergency services workers that need to rescue you.”
A 61-year-old man’s body was found Saturday after his four-wheel-drive pickup truck was swept off a bridge into a river in northern New South Wales.
He had escaped from the pickup and tried in vain to cling to a tree branch in the river before disappearing into the rapid waters on Friday, police said.
