GASCOYNE?locals are waiting to assess the full extent of the damage caused by record flooding over the last week.
The area was inundated with water after Carnarvon and surrounding areas received unusually heavy rainfall which began last Thursday.
In less than 24 hours, the area had received almost its yearly rainfall and the Gascoyne River rose to 7.8 metres on Monday, eclipsing the previous highest level of 7.61m recorded in 1960.
Water levels on some pastoral stations rose more than 10m with more accurate measurements unable to be determined due to the loss of water gauges and measuring sticks.
The Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) pastoral and livestock executive officer Ian Randles said pastoralists were used to floods but this one was unusual and took everybody by surprise.
“Flood waters usually peak and subside but this one stayed at the peak for a long time,” he said. PGA president Rob Gillam said some homesteads on the Gascoyne River in the Gascoyne Junction area had been inundated with water.
Bidgemia station, Weedarrah station and Mooloo Downs station were among properties affected by major infrastructure and stock losses.
Mr Randles said it was difficult to assess the damage to pastoral stations at this stage. He said most pastoralists had lost or sustained damage to infrastructure like fencing, buildings and vehicles as well as stock losses.
Upper Gascoyne Shire chief executive officer Paul Rawlings said there had been extensive damage to homesteads and farmhouses west of Mt Augustus.
“Most of the cattle here were pretty weak because of the drought and getting them to high ground in a short period of time would have been very difficult as it hit in the middle of the night and came up very quickly,” Mr Rawlings said.
Bidgemia station, Weedarrah station and Lyons River station owners Lachlan and Jane McTaggart had flown over their properties since the flood, but Mr McTaggart said the ground was still too wet for them to take a closer look at the damage.
Mr McTaggart said he had no power or water and every vehicle, including his plane, trucks and machinery, were six feet under water.
He said he had lost most of the 1350 cattle that were near the homestead at the time of the flood.
Carnarvon Shire president Dudley Maslen said on Tuesday that some areas were still under five metres of water and the water coming off the floodplains was continuing to hold up assessments of the damage, specifically south of town where road access to the town had been cut off.
But Mr Maslen said the town would provide a solid base to operate from and the airport was open to enable assessments of damage to begin.
“Nobody can get out of Carnarvon by road, either way, for probably 36 to 48 hours and it’s more like six or seven days before they can get out to the south and three or four to the north,” he said.
The Carnarvon horticultural district sustained heavy losses across all crops like bananas, grapes, mangoes and melons.
“I would suggest across the board probably 50 per cent damage, bearing in mind melons are probably close to 100pc write-off, mangoes probably 25pc write-off and bananas probably 25pc,” Mr Maslen said.
“Some people will have 70 to 80pc write-off, others won’t have anything wrong with them. “It’s a bit like an atomic bomb and you think how can anything survive but when you pick through it, you’re quite surprised about what can be salvaged.”
Mr Maslen said the larger horticultural operators on the north side of the river had their own standby generators to run their coolrooms, one with $100,000 worth of grapes ready to deliver.
But transport was still a problem. The shire is also trying to deliver contract pickers to growers, either by helicopter or truck.
“They reckon they’re at a third of their picking and have probably lost half of what’s left of their grapes which are seedless but they think they can sell as long as they can start picking,” Mr Maslen said.
About 60pc of horticultural properties had been inundated with water and Horizon Power had shut down main powerlines east of the levy bank due to safety issues.
“There’s still water streaming down a lot of those places and some of those people will be without power for 48 hours but most will be on within the next 12 hours,” Mr Maslen said.
“The first thing we’ll be working on as a shire will be the everyday living requirements, that is assisting and monitoring the restoration of power and services like telephone and water to those who haven’t got it, removal of rubbish and making sure enough supplies are coming in.
“As the water goes down we’ll begin to assess the damage to roads and bring in soil and road base to make sure every plantation has access to town so they can get their stores and medicines.”
Replacing essential topsoil was another issue that horticultural growers would have to deal with.
WA Premier Colin Barnett and Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman flew to Carnarvon on Monday and immediately declared a natural disaster in the Carnarvon and Gascoyne areas, including parts of the Pilbara and the Mid West.
The State Government will provide immediate financial help to those people affected by the floods.
Mr Gillam said once pastoralists and growers got through this period of difficulty, there would be good times ahead.
He said many pastoralists had already de-stocked due to the drought and the cattle they had left would flourish once the aquifers recharged and pastures improved after the rain.
“The west Gascoyne and parts of the east Gascoyne is where most of the damage has been caused by the rain, but it has actually affected in a very positive manner all of the west Gascoyne and parts of the Pilbara and all of the Murchison,” he said.
“One of the things pastoralists know is when you’re going to end a big drought, the only way you end them is through very significant summer rain and that’s exactly what we’ve got now.”
