‘Never seen anything like it’: Pastoralists count the cost and return to stations as floodwaters recede

The most significant floods in WA’s history heralded a tumultuous start to the New Year for Kimberley pastoralists, who were deep in clean-up efforts this week as they tried to take stock of cattle and infrastructure losses. Cattle and kangaroos were forced to take refuge on islands surrounded by water as “once in 100-year floods” swept through the Kimberley, destroying major roads and isolating communities. The weather system caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie was centred near Halls Creek on Tuesday, January 3 and moved slowly west throughout the week — causing major flooding from Fitzroy Crossing to Broome. The hundreds of millimetres of rain dumped on the Central Kimberley caused catastrophic damage to cattle stations, homes, and towns and led to the partial collapse of the Fitzroy River Bridge. The bridge’s destruction effectively severed the main arterial route connecting the west and east Kimberley, leaving the towns of Halls Creek and Kununurra and community of Warmun cut off from the rest of the State. By Friday, floodwaters had started to recede and the first images of the damage to the Fitzroy Bridge started to circulate — with pictures showing the middle of the bridge collapsed and unpassable. The floods have caused havoc for Kimberley pastoralists, with precious livestock washed downstream or left stranded on islands. A video posted to Facebook by Fitzroy Crossing resident Jaye Bedford showed cattle struggling to swim while being washed downstream in the Fitzroy River, which peaked at its highest level on record at 15.75m. Department of Fire and Emergency Services commissioner Darren Klemm said stock losses were “incredibly sad” but said animals faced the same dangers as humans in fast-moving water. With aircraft able to land on stations at the start of this week, efforts have been under way to get feed to livestock stranded on islands with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development coordinating feed drop efforts. Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association chair Jak Andrews, who works at Yeeda Station east of Fitzroy Crossing, said it was not yet known how many of the region’s 700,000 cattle had died. “Fortunately, there are no reports of loss of human life, but there’s certainly infrastructure and livestock losses,” he said “A number of properties are reporting significant losses ... infrastructure damage, entire station complexes being submerged. There’s no doubt the impact will be significant.” He said the station’s abattoir, which employed up to 100 people during its peak operations and is located 100km east of Broome, remained closed until further notice. The jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements were confirmed on Monday, with those in the Shires of West Kimberley, Derby, Halls Creek and Wyndham-East Kimberley eligible. The funding is designed for individuals, families, local businesses and primary producers and can be used for emergency assistance, temporary living expenses, replacement of essential household goods, housing repairs, and personal and financial counselling. Mr Andrews said station operators were going to need help once the initial emergency was over. “There is going to be a requirement for financial help once we go into recovery mode and that will be ongoing for some period of time,” he said. Broome-based Mining and Pastoral MP Neil Thomson echoed the calls for help, saying the challenges would come after the floodwaters receded. “For those stock that have managed to survive, to make sure they’ve got feed and the animals don’t get bogged in the mud,” he said. Gogo Station manager Phillip Hams said while locals were only just starting to assess damage, flood waters were among the worst he’d seen. “On our station, we’re fairly lucky because the main buildings are on fairly high ground after previous homesteads were flooded years ago,” he said. “We’ve used the old Gogo homestead, which is about 600m from our current homestead, to track floods over the years with water lines showing some of the biggest, including the 1983 flood. “The whole building is completely submerged, so it’s definitely the worst we’ve seen. In a day or two, once the water clears, we’ll get out in the helicopter and see the damage, but for now we just have to hope we got lucky.” Brooking Springs and Fossil Downs stations had their homesteads flooded, while Jubilee Downs and Noonkanbah stations were also severely affected. Camille Camp, 31, of Kalyeeda Station, 200km south-west of Fitzroy Crossing, evacuated her homestead with husband Lachlan McClymont and 15-month-old son Jack as floods quickly rose around them on January 3. Their 122,000ha property, which has a boundary with the Fitzroy River, was almost entirely underwater. “My family has owned this property for 27 years and we have never seen anything like this before,” she said. “Twenty metres out from my front verandah it is like a river and it’s rising really quickly. I’m fearful for the animals, we just lost a Shetland pony, which is pretty devastating, and we saw cattle being washed down.” Ms Camp said they managed to get 40 cattle to higher ground around the homestead but it was unclear how many they had lost. “The cattle are pretty used to flooding and generally go to higher ground, but the channels came up so quickly this time some would have been cut off,” she said. WA Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said he was working closely with the KPCA and WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis to determine what disaster relief funding or other assistance pastoralists needed. “DEFES and DPIRD are delivering stock feed to affected areas, we are facilitating road trains going from WA through SA and the NT… we are subsidising those freight costs,” he said. “There is a barge being used to bring fuel and supplies from Broome and the Pilbara.” Ms Jarvis said the full impact on stations would not be known for some time. “My thoughts go out to pastoralists affected by this unprecedented flood,” she said. “While this is an incredibly stressful and uncertain time, we will not know the full extent of the damage until the floodwaters recede. “I’ve been in close contact with pastoralists in the area and assured them that the State Government stands ready to assist, and will continue to work with stakeholders as the situation unfolds.. “The McGowan Government will continue to work closely with the Commonwealth to ensure we get support out to the communities impacted.” While the worst of the flooding appeared to be over at Fitzroy Crossing late last week, areas downstream were copping the brunt with flooding at Nookebnah and water lapping at the top of the bridge at Willare. Roads across the Kimberley were still closed at the time of print on Tuesday, including huge parts of the Great Northern Highway, including between Fitzroy and Halls Creek, Fitzroy and Broome, Access to towns and communities in the Kimberley are expected to be an issue for weeks, making recovery efforts more challenging. Pastoralists and Graziers Association president Tony Seabrook said the record-breaking floods would have a long-term impact on the Kimberley’s agricultural industry, with concerns over the extensive stock loss and disruptions to export supply chains. He flagged major concerns about the impact on live cattle exports from the ports of Broome and Wyndham. “There are going to be significant losses of cattle throughout the whole of the Fitzroy Basin,” Mr Seabrook said. “The only real way that pastoralists make money out there is to breed stock that are destined to go to export and that is generally out of Broome. “If the road system is not repaired quickly that will have a massive impact on the work those guys do — getting the road up and running will be really important.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, WA Premier Mark McGowan and Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt toured the devastation and met with residents at Fitzroy Crossing earlier this week. Mr Albanese said the disaster relief operation was a “massive logistical challenge”. “You have places like Fitzroy Crossing but also Derby, as well as a range of other very small, remote communities, being cut off, that the roads aren’t usable,” he said. “The bridge into Fitzroy Crossing has basically been destroyed, so the only way that goods can be got in at the moment is by air.” The Australian Defence Force has increased its support to the aid effort with 200 personnel, three fixed-wing aircraft and five helicopters on the ground or set to arrive on Tuesday.