Video released by a Queensland MP on Monday in Australia revealed the impact of heavy flooding with hundreds of cattle being found dead in a single paddock after the waters receded.
Last week, northwest Queensland saw heavy downpours hit the region after it had gone through an extensive drought, bringing joy to many graziers.
But the flooding came fast as some rural parts of Queensland received three years’ worth of average rainfall in a week, The Guardian reports.
The video was published on Facebook by MP Robbie Katter, expressing his shock.
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“ONE corner in ONE paddock on ONE property,” he posted.
As of Monday, up to 500,000 cattle are feared dead and the agricultural industry’s peak body, AgForce, says the situation has become “a massive humanitarian crisis.”
The chief executive officer said it could take decades to recover.
“There is no doubt that this is a disaster of unprecedented proportion,” he said. “The speed and intensity of the unfolding tragedy makes it hard to believe that it’s just a week since farmers elation at receiving the first decent rains in five years turned to horror.”
AgForce has sent fodder to more than 150,000 head of cattle that have no other access to feed in an attempt to mitigate further losses and are urging governments of all levels to get involved.
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Farmer Rachel Anderson of Eddington station said she had lost nearly half her herd, about 2,000 cattle, which will mean a great deal of strain on the bank.
“I can provide for my family right now, but in six months’ time or when the bank comes for their repayment, I don’t know what I’m going to do, none of us know what we are going to do,” she said.
Heavy rains are expected during monsoon season, but the weather bureau said a wide stretch of outback was inundated with water and, until the clouds clear, the full scale of the disaster won’t be known, The National reported Friday.
Another farmer, William McMillan, told the ABC the loss of cattle could “finish a lot of people,” due to some farmers losing their entire herd of animals.
According to The Guardian, the federal government is providing a payment of A$1 million (C$939,000) to affected shires to use on “priorities they deem most urgent,” but many farmers say there may not be the potential of recovery.
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