At least 300,000 and perhaps as many as half a million cattle are estimated to have died as a result of flooding in Queensland, Australia.
The situation for farmers has been described as a massive humanitarian crisis by AgForce, Queensland’s farm organisation.
After at least five years of drought conditions, three years’ worth of rainfall fell in less than a week.
There is no doubt that this is a disaster of unprecedented proportion
The resulting floods saw cattle drowned, others suffocated in mud, and still more died of exposure even when they managed to escape the water.
“There is no doubt that this is a disaster of unprecedented proportion,” AgForce chief executive, Michael Guerin, said.
More than 100 producers in the devastated areas have requested fodder to try and save more than 150,000 head of cattle.
We are being confronted with death and devastation at every turn
Emergency supplies of fodder are being dropped to distressed animals that have survived the floods, but the prospects for those animals are not good, as they have lost up to 50% of their body condition in just a few days.
Farmer Jacqueline Curley has shared her family’s terrible experience on social media.
“We are being confronted with death and devastation at every turn.
"There are kangaroos dead in trees and fences, birds drowned in drifts of silt and debris, and our beloved bovine family lays perished in piles where they have been huddling for protection and warmth,” she wrote.
“This scene is mirrored across the entire region, it is absolutely soul-destroying to think our animals suffered like this.”
“Although we won’t know the full extent of the livestock losses and infrastructure damage until the water fully recedes, it is certain that the industry will take decades to recover,” said AgForce’s Michael Guerin.