Flood causes Finch Hatton grazier to lose 50 cattle
Road authorities warned the main road linking Mackay to the Pioneer Valley will be closed until at least early February after it was extensively damaged when more than 1000m pummelled the region.
UPDATE: Road authorities warned Mackay-Eungella Rd will be closed until at least early February after it was extensively damaged when more than 1000m drenched the region.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads said the closure on Eungella Range was to ensure safety as debris was remove, geotechnical investigations were conducted and emergency repairs undertaken.
One lane only access is currently restricted to emergency vehicles only – four-wheel drives and high clearance vehicles could detour between Eungella and Mackay via Turrawulla Rd and Lizzie rd.
Mackay-Eungella Rd is expected to reopen under limited access restrictions from early February while long-term repairs continue.
TMR Central Queensland acting regional director Stephen Price said crews were working around the clock to reopen the road as soon as possible.
“The initial clean-up and geotechnical investigations will be undertaken as soon as possible so we can assess what repairs will be needed,” Mr Price said.
“Closing the road for the interim will ensure the safety of workers and road users and that repairs can be expedited.
“This will ultimately reduce the impact of closures on the community.”
A Finch Hatton property owner lost 50 cattle after a devastating flood ripped through the region, as the Pioneer Valley community gets stuck into the clean up in the aftermath of relentless rain.
Sandra Goeldner said her home became an island when floodwaters spilt onto her property, cutting them off and smashing their four wheel drive against surrounding trees.
“This is the highest it’s ever come,” she said.
“We had a marker from Cyclone Debbie … this has exceeded that by about another foot.”
The vehicle is written off but her and her partner’s humour is still intact.
In fact, when they had been about to move it to safety, trees fell on it and then it ended up in flood waters.
“It’s been totally over the roof three times with water,” Ms Goeldner said.
“It doesn’t have a windscreen anymore, a tree went through that; it doesn’t have a back window, that got smashed out when it got slammed into another tree.
“It’s had a couple of trees dumped in the bonnet.”
Ms Goeldner said she was lucky all her animals – that included chickens, dogs and guinea pigs – survived the rapidly rising waters, but one of her neighbours was not so fortunate – he lost 50 cattle after Cattle Creek breached its banks on Monday.
It is understood he was in the process of relocating his remaining animals although a number of fences in the region were damaged in the weather event.
“The creek has gone down an awful lot, the overflow creek is still flowing through our property but it’s a lot less than what it was,” Ms Goeldner said.
“Normally the overflow is dry here … it was flooded all the way from Cattle Creek to our building that’s over about 200 metres.”
While Ms Goeldner and her Wade Stafford were safe in the upstairs part of their home, water inundated the lower section of their property forming an island and washing onto neighbouring lots.
All they could do was sit and watch as property like a neighbour’s doghouse and recently chopped firewood floated by.
Ms Goeldner said they had made preparations in the days leading up to the Monday flood.
“We’ve got the chickens … in the house with us,” Mr Stafford said.
“I thought I lost one chook because I had two under my arms, the eggs in a bucket and I was coming back up … there was three-feet of water, I turned around and saw one bobbing and just said sorry.
“I just kept on going because I was knee deep in water.”
The next day, which was her birthday, Ms Goeldner returned to the chookpen to see if they could return the animals “and there she was sitting on top of where they lay the eggs just going ‘buck buck buck buck buck’”.
“It was like I’m so glad to see you again, come here darling,” she said.
“That was amazing.”
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Originally published as Flood causes Finch Hatton grazier to lose 50 cattle
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