Waterlogged Townsville is cleaning up as graziers come to grips with massive cattle losses after flooding devastated large swathes of Queensland.

February 9, 2019

Mopping up after Queensland’s once-in-a-century deluge is well underway in flood-ravaged Townsville but inland, communities remain cut off by the water.

The unprecedented two-week weather event has dumped more than a year’s rain on large swathes of north and western Queensland.

Rural communities from Longreach to Charters Towers, and north to Kowanyama on Cape York Peninsula, remain surrounded by floodwaters.

The deluge has devastated drought-stricken graziers, who are estimated to have lost a staggering 300,000 head of cattle.

The inland sea has forced farmers to use helicopters to find their surviving cattle isolated on high-ground.

Others are motoring around their stations in tinnies to inspect what’s left of fences and infrastructure. 

After years of drought, the financial losses are expected to cripple many in the cattle industry, with some estimating the total cost could be as high as $300 million.

Stock losses are likely to rise further as floodwaters reach large herds in the northern shires of Carpentaria and Burke.

In Townsville, waterlogged homes are drying out as residents shovel mud and heave flood-damaged belongings on to the roadside.

Beds, white goods, lounge suites and teddies are piling up on the kerbs of suburban streets as residents get on with the massive clean up. 

A total of 11,800 insurance claims amounting to a combined $147 million have been made so far, and the number of homes declared severely damaged or uninhabitable is climbing.

On Friday, assessment teams had completed 2500 home inspections with more than 60 per cent found to have flood damage requiring repair.

Elsewhere, communities in the Torres Strait have been swamped by a king tide and a flood watch remains in place on the west of Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

A major flood warning has been issued for the Upper Burdekin River and a flood watch remains in place for catchments from the Daintree to Mackay.