Rockhampton Showground Resembles Noah's Ark as Floods Keep Rising

Cattle and horse owners are still trying to get their animals to safety in Rockhampton as floodwaters keep rising in the isolated central Queensland city.

 

Residents in Rockhampton have reported that cattle are being washed down the Fitzroy River and are scrambling out into suburban backyards, still alive, but exhausted and stressed to find themselves in amongst houses and people.

 

More parts of Rockhampton will be inundated today when the flooded Fitzroy River reaches a major peak, which authorities are hoping may not quite reach 9.4m, however, worried locals are fearing it could go as high as 10m.

 

The isolation caused by the flooding has become a major problem for livestock owners, with the Rockhampton Showgrounds looking more like Noah's Ark this week.

 

Michelle Haywood is just one of the people who has brought her horses to the grounds after her property west of Rockhampton was swamped, saying, "We've been here six days now and we've got 11 stabled here at the moment," Ms Haywood said.  She says more than 140 horses were either found stranded or brought in by their owners and space is running short.  "We have a donkey, a goat, a little calf over here and some chooks and there's a lot of dogs getting around," she said.

 

A lot of the horses were shifted from the Rockhampton racetrack after it went underwater several days ago.

 

There are also growing fears of a food shortage for livestock.  Ms Haywood says feed supplies for animals are becoming expensive and scarce.

 

"A lot of people that have brought these horses in have had to leave their feed, which has gone under water and now they've been left to try and find feed from somewhere else," she said.  "We've had a few public holidays and a long weekend and it's been hard for them to find feed."

 

story:  www.abc.net.au