February 13 at 4:42 PM What began as welcomed rain after several years of crippling drought in Australia turned into a catastrophe after record-breaking downpour flooded the northeastern coast, killing hundreds of thousands of cattle, wiping away the livelihood of many farming communities and threatening one of the country’s vital industries.
Nearly 50 million acres of land in the state of Queensland was inundated this past week.
Officials estimate more than 300,000 herd cattle were killed, though that number could rise.
One producer who normally has about 70,000 cattle has found only 1,000 as of last week, officials said.
Countless carcasses, many huddled together in mud, have been discovered as water began to recede.
Many farmers, Guerin said, have not only lost their livelihood, but are also left with crippling debt.
“What I’m concerned about now is the next two to five years and how we support these people to actually get back on their feet to restock their companies, to rebuild their infrastructure to rebuild fences .
and get their businesses back and running,” Somerset said.
Eight of Australia’s top-10 warmest years on record have come in the past 13 years.
Last month, a multiweek heat wave parched the landscape in South Australia, triggered damaging wildfires and toppled significant records.