Central Queensland Grazier Linda Hewitt writes:
This is the pictorial story of the disaster of the Central Queensland floods from our property “Fork Lagoon” which is approx 34kms west of Emerald. Fortunately we are one of the lucky ones, we got our stock moved to higher ground just in time.
These floods will prove disastrous for the Emerald and central Queensland economy. The losses suffered by the farming and mining industry which the Emerald township’s economy has been thriving on, will severely hurt the towns economy. This will take years to recover from.
A Brahman cow hanging on for dear life. She epitomizes the many many thousands of cattle washed away in the Belyando River Area. At least she made it. Many, many did not.
Click here to see all these photos in full screen size. They are very impressive in full size.
“Fork Lagoon” house is 3/4 surrounded - in trees at the centre left of the photo below. The water rushed out of the hills behind us and took out the road leading into the house, the dam wall and the fences etc. We received 6 inches (150mm) in about 5 hours, and another 4 inches (100mm) in the next few hours. All up we got 18.75 inches (470mm) for the 3 days. We’d already had one week of wet weather - drizzle - before this so the country was very wet already.
The supposed dam in front of the house. You can see on the right where the dam wall ends, there should be a dam wall going across the front of the “island” which we had purposely left in the middle of our house dam. We have retained water at the old water level, and the dam is beautifully clean now. Always a positive to every negative.
Colin Hewitt & son Jack inspecting damage in Jacks chopper about 11am. Water had peaked during the night, so these photo’s do not show the highest levels.
Flying west of our house, Kettle Creek, running past our house, going through “Fork Lagoon” towards Emerald over the low range about 34kms away.
The 6 Charolais bulls we though had been swept away. By now you can see some of the water has receded. These boys would have had a terrifying night.
Fork Lagoon house on left.
One of the 5 dam banks burst. Water came so quickly it just went straight over the top. The dams never had a chance with the huge tide of water that hit.
Another dam bank gone. Water has taken the entire front wall. Note the top of the fence lines are just visable out of the water at top left of the photo below. This photo was taken many hours after the waters peaked.
This Grain Feeder had 2-3 Tonnes of feed in it. It got picked up and floated over 2 fences, without breaking a wire in them. It finished up on its head. It has to be deep, strong flowing water to do that.
One of our neighbors Machinery Shed.
Crops near Emerald. This is a high walled Irrigation Ring Tank surrounded by prime cropping land. Ring Tanks are filled by pumping into them not by catching run-off. Hence the blue coloured water (rain water) in the tank and the brown sea of flood water outside the tank. Wasn’t far from going straight over the top of it - amazing.
Mick & Jack doing hay drops to stranded cattle.
Flooding around the town of Emerald.
The country just outside of Emerald was an “inland sea”. The dot you can see in the middle is a Brahman Cow that had managed to hang on to a small spot of high ground.
Some people had driven cars out on the high ground on main roads outside of their farms, meaning to walk out to the cars if it got too bad. But the water came so quick and so high that the cars themselves got drowned. Even those that were well prepared got caught out!!!!
The obvious velocity of these floods over such a wide area is quite scarry.
I have been trying for 8 years to get my flood proof fence implemented throughpout Australia to lessen the impact of such events on fence and stock losses. My fence was featured on the New Inventors Program Epsiode 11 and has been developed and proven under severe testing situations. Unfortnately the big fencing companies seem to prefer to just keep selling new fences when these catastrophies occur while Landcare Australia won’t even talk to me.
Hello Colin, Linda and Family,
Our thoughts are with you and all who have borne the brunt of mother nature at her most extreme.
Matt and Anna Ahern
Good morning to all those wonderful people who wrote a comment to our family after the photos were published on the Agmates (terrific) website. Thank you all so much for your care and concern, I was amazed to read who had written (Hello everyone!) and where some of the comments had come from!!
I know that all the comments are not just directed at our family, but at everyone who went through the flood, and I hope others read these and realize how much care there is out there from our friends and fellow producers.
I sent those photos in to Steve Truman to give an idea to people of what was going on around Emerald. For the first few days the TV crews were focussing on the Fairbairn Dam and the flooding in the town, amd following the Premier etc, when I knew farmers up and down the flood country were losing crops and stock. I was very frustrated at the relaying of information and Steve performs a great service - I just would have liked to get more shots of other peoples’ plight, not just ours.
I have to stress that we were the lucky ones. Because we are at the headwaters of the Nagoa River, our country flooded very very quickly, but the water moved off quickly too. By Day 4 it was nearly all gone. So, as a result we did not lose our grass production to drowning, or mud slime, and the grass has come away magnificently. (First time in about 15 years that we have had rain on all of our places at the same time too!!!)
We are also lucky because we have several young men on the place. Until the moment we realized that the situation was getting critical, we were just having a ton of fun racing around in the rain on the quads, and checking out the dams and creek etc. We were drenched, laughing and planning to build water ski runs, and then started to notice that the water was coming up our legs VERY quickly, the quads were floating, and we had better react to the situation!!!! I was amazing how quickly it came up, and you must remember that our young folk have not seen rain like this in their memorable lives!!!
So, the boys all jumped on bikes and raced out to push the mares and foals, stud bulls and working horses up to higher gound. They had to force the animals to swim the already rushing creeks, so still to this day we do not know if we last any foals or animals, as we have so much flood fencing to fix before we can muster. But we feel confident we only lost a very very few, unlike others downstream from us. The sun had gone by the time we realized that the rain was not going to stop (we have actually only owned this place for two years and did not realize the catchment situation) so most of the rescues were done in the dark, and our son came home very upset that he may not have gotten all the stock out of the way.
The other thing was that he also come home with a white, shocked face because he thought one of the men had washed away, as he could not find him. Thank goodness that man had come home only minutes ahead of the other two, and he was already drying off. But that was about 1.5 hours that they had gone out in the dark, and needless to say I was in rather a lather about where they were, and if any of them were going to get home! My relief when they all came ’swimming’ out of the dark waters on their bikes was immeasurable. In the meantime, the water had risen so close to the house, Colin and we four women had discovered the men’s caravans (no quarters built yet) were about to float of downstream too.
Have any of you ever tried to remove annexes in the pitch dark, with water to your knees, mattresses floating away, electric cords floating around you (thank god for safety switches) and literally thousands of frogs, toads, spiders and bugs running up your legs to maroon themselves under your shirt and in your hair? I was so proud of the girls as they just kept going and after some time, one little voice calmly said “I hope no snakes want to climb up on me too!” Colin towed out the vans with the tractor, and half an hour later we realized we had to tow them further as the water was still coming!!!
Quite frankly I was at the stage of not giving a damn about the caravans, I just wanted to know where the men were on the other side of the creek, fighting the flood waters. By then I had stopped appreciating the rain!
So, despite all this, we have had a massive advantage over the poor people up on the Belyando, where the water has lain around for ages and killed off the grass and crusted over the land with mud. I will tell you what I know of the Belyando, but first I wish to acknowledge those producers around the country who have had no rain.
While we were being inundated (and it is still raining here every day!) I heard a farmer on the radio ring in and say that since July they had had only 2ml of rain so my heart goes out to those people as well. They really are doing it tough. My hope is that some of this rain spreads further and encompasses more land.
Right now I have to go and get breakfast. I got up early to post his comment, as I have had a new secretary start this week and it has been an intensive training week, and I have not been able to acknowledge all those coments we received. I will add information about what is happening up on the Belyando and everywhere later today, and tell you some good stories too. With sincere best wishes to everyone, “We loves yus all”, from Linda and Colin and family and staff.
Hi Linda and Colin,
Only seeing these pictures really shows the extent of the devastation. We too lend our thoughts to all here and on the Belyando as the clean up begins.
May fantastic seasons be the aftermath
Jan and John Prewett
All the best when the water has gone
regards from Argentina
Gonzalo Vidal
Technical Manager
Sociedad Rural Argentina
Our hearts go out to you Linda, and to all those in Central Qld who have been similarly affected. It seems so hard have to watch a devastating dry period come to an equally devastating finale.
However, it’s the bad times that teach us to treasure and be grateful for the good. Keep your chin up.
Colin, Linda, and family,
What a welcome to Fork Lagoon. Pleased to hear you got most stock to higher ground. Our stock are what we plan so hard for, and why we have all worked so hard for the last years to hang onto them.
You are in our thoughts, but we know what a strong mob you all are, and that your dream will continue after the cleanup and a lot of hard work.
Miss you, Brenda, Clayton, Fiona, Dayne, Jane and kids.
It is hard when we’re oceans away to sense the immediate devastation. But the pictures speak loud. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.
A friend in Texas, USA.
Linda and Colin,
It never just rains - it pours. Our thoughts are with youall effected by these floods. Dorothy McKellar got it pretty correct.
Stephen, Elaine and Martin Lill
Sally, thank you for the illuminating, photographs, from Linda, What a disaster for them, and all caught by the floods. Is help needed ?
Linda and Colin
Amazing photos, terrible loss. We will never forget that poor brave cow hanging on. Hope she made it. The new fertility will be great but will never make up for all the other sudden loss. Thanks for sharing the photos.
Viv & Judy Forbes
Linda & Colin
Great shots,all the best when the water has gone.
Our thoughts and hearts are with you all in Central Queensland. There have been some wet eyes here as we think about the losses to your families and businesses and the cattle and horses that didn’t have time to escape.
We know how difficult it is to watch something you’ve worked so hard for be destroyed, whether its infrastructure or a lifetime of genetic progress - it can rip you heart out. Take it one day at a time.
How can we help? Our love and prayers are with you and your animals.
Alice and Rick
Col and Linda,
A wonderful chronicle of the extent of the floods. What a country, prolonged drought followed by devastating floods that have wiped out stock and property infrastructure that will take years to replace.
I trust that as you thought, you have not had too many stock losses. My thoughts are with you and all the other graziers as you now commence the “clean-up”.
Keep your chin up,
regards
David Connolly
Linda,
A great summary of the disaster. Drought , flood, earthquake, fire all bring home nature’s power over us all.Very sobering.
We have been thinking of you all but not wanting to take up your time or telephone as you work on the clean up.
Best Wishes
John and Ann
A kind soul sent your photos around the US. Your fellow ranchers and farmers extend their sorrow and support during this time of loss. We are grateful that no lives were lost and rejoice at your prospects for good grass this season. Keeping all of you in our prayers.
Joel Gill and your friends at R-CALF USA.
Linda and Colin
Unbelievable! So pleased your animals are okay. It is just heartbreaking to hear of lost stock in so many places, and to hear of the ones stranded. It is all just too sad.
Thinking of you. Judie and John.
Dear Linda,
Whilst your photos are spectacular (truly amazing) our thoughts are with you all as you begin your cleanup. Kind regards, Suzanne and David.
PS Regards to Mick..