A calf in Central Queensland has miraculously survived being tossed 80 kilometres through floodwater, hurled over three weirs and being washed out to sea.
Michael “Lizard” Seymour’s property west of Mackay had more than 650 millimetres of rain after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji moved through on Sunday.
The Netherdale farmer said while 70 head of cattle, $10,000 worth of grass seed and 2 tonnes of fertiliser were swept away, not all was lost.
“I got a phone call Sunday afternoon from Mackay police. They said, ‘Lizard, we got one of your cows on [the] town beach,'” Mr Seymour said.
The 11-month-old red brangus heifer, which had been washed 80km in a matter of hours before being pulled from the water, was miraculously still alive.
“That cow has gone over three weirs — Mirani Weir, Marian Weir, and Dumbelton Weir — to the mouth of the river,” Mr Seymour said.
“Then it got washed out to sea, and then the returning tide brought it back onto the beach.”
Lizard’s brother collected the cow from Mackay Beach on Sunday evening. (Supplied: Michael “Lizard” Seymour)
Mr Seymour said he had not yet counted how much of his herd had been recovered alive downstream.
“If you buy on creek banks, they’re lush when it’s beautiful, but they’re horrendous when it’s flooding,” he said.
Fillies go downstream ‘at a rate of knots’
Heavy rain and floodwater brought on by ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji has caused destruction, including loss of livestock across north-west Queensland, with the estimated tally of lost and deceased livestock now at 51,393.
Further south in Central Queensland, more than 60 homes were inundated this week at Clermont.
Flash flooding has significantly affected Clermont. (Supplied: Bush Heli-Services)
While Brett “Slippery” Johnstone was “very, very lucky” that his home was spared, the truck driver and horse farrier was forced to rescue livestock after 280mm fell on his property, where three creeks converge.
He said his wife Rebecca Johnstone was cleaning up around the house when she saw their pregnant mare, Lily, jump into the floodwater.
“She sings out, ‘Slip, the horses are coming home [to the house]’, and I ran down to the creek,” Mr Johnstone said.
With nowhere left to stand in the paddock, three fillies followed Lily into the floodwater, where they were quickly dragged towards the converging creeks.
Mr Johnstone’s horses Blondie, Friday, and Pearl survived a swim in treacherous flooded creeks. (Supplied: Brett “Slippery” Johnstone)
“All I could see was three [fillies’] heads … going downstream at a fair rate of knots.
“They wouldn’t have had a hope.”
With no sign of Lily, the couple began hollering to the filly in the lead.
“We started singing out to my wife’s little roan pony mare … ‘Come on Pearl.”’
He said Pearl looked up and began to swim harder, making it across the current to reach the bank, with the other two fillies following behind.
“The little two-year-old … she was starting to swing and go, and I thought, ‘Oh my baby’s gone,'” Mr Johnstone said.
“[But] blow me dead, she must have hit the eddy in the currents or something … she got across and got out.”
So too did pregnant mare Lily, who emerged unscathed from further downstream.
Once reunited, Mr Johnstone said they “huddled up like four scared children”.
“I haven’t asked the full [sic] delinquents what they thought they were doing,” he joked.
Brett “Slippery” Johnstone with his horses Pearl, Lily and Friday, rescued from floodwater. (Supplied: Brett Johnstone)
Mr Johnstone said with floodwater surrounding the paddock, the horses had no choice but to swim.
He said he had seen horses swim in floods through the Channel Country, but this was different.
“I never ever felt scared [before], but seeing that … it put a flutter in us,” he said.
“I had the idea if that if she [Lily] has a filly … I’m gonna call it Dawnie, short for Dawn Fraser.”