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A missing child was found dead in Australian floodwaters Thursday as rising rivers cut off southern towns and flash torrents hit already deluged areas, swamping evacuees and sweeping cars off the road.

Police discovered the three-year-old in waters about 500 metres (yards) from his family's home in rural New South Wales state late Wednesday, some 12 hours after he went missing on the remote property.

It was the first flood-related death in the eastern state and took the disaster's total toll to 33, including at least six children.

Another 12 people were missing in the worst-hit Lockyer Valley, in the devastated northeastern state of Queensland, after a savage torrent described as an "inland tsunami" swept through the region this month, claiming 20 lives.

A high-tech unmanned glider was dispatched to map the flood damage, particularly its impact on marine life in the nearby Pacific Ocean, as severe storms again lashed Queensland, unleashing flash floods and high winds.

Cars were swept off the road in Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city, which is still reeling from an unprecedented flood that engulfed 30,000 homes last week.

One man had to cling to tree branches after his car was tipped over, while a second was sucked into quicksand-like mud up to his neck in Bundaberg, to the north, before rescuers reached him.

Waist-high waters also rushed through the streets of Rockhampton, inundated earlier this month, and flooded the town's evacuation centre -- a cruel blow for those left homeless by the earlier deluge. - AFP

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