With extensive flooding across the North West region over the past month, Local Land Services staff have been busy assisting flood affected landholders.
Moree Plains Shire Council area was the most significantly affected in our region, with landholders in Narrabri, Gwydir and Walgett shires also experiencing overland flooding and significant damage to agricultural infrastructure and crops. Overall livestock losses in our region were low, but there were reported losses of sheep, cattle and goats.
In Moree, parts of the town were evacuated as the Mehi river peaked at major flood levels. Local Land Services staff, as part of a broader animal and agriculture support functional area response, set up emergency accommodation for evacuated animals. With the assistance of council staff and the local saleyards, we provided emergency accommodation for 120 animals, including dogs, cats, horses and cattle.
As the floodwaters moved west, many properties become isolated, and livestock became stranded on high ridges, or within flood levies. As the waters in many places took quite some time to recede and ground access was not possible, Local Land Services assisted with provision of fodder, and arranged helicopter fodder drops to stranded livestock. We also conducted surveillance flights to look for missing stock, check on the welfare of stranded stock, and follow up on reports from other agencies about stock in need of assistance.
As landholders with flood experience would know, the work does not stop when the floodwaters recede. There is a lot of work to be done in the recovery phase, with repair of damaged infrastructure, monitoring impacted livestock, and checking for weeds and other hazards that floodwaters may bring. It is always a good idea to review your property's flood plan after a flood, to see what changes may need to be made for next time.
Natural Disaster Recovery Grants for Primary Producers are available for those impacted by flooding. These are administered by the Rural Assistance Authority, and can be found here.
