Flood-hit farms strewn with dead

WATERLOGGED homes in Townsville are starting to dry out but the devastation left behind by a flood that swallowed homesteads and cattle further west is only just being realised.

Beds, white goods, lounge suites and teddies are piling up on the kerbs of suburban streets as residents of the city get on with the clean up. A total of 11,800 insurance claims amounting to a combined $147 million have been made so far, and the number of homes declared severely damaged or uninhabitable is climbing.

Communities in the Torres Strait have been swamped by a king tide, while farming towns out west are facing widespread destruction.

Graziers have told of dead cattle as far as they can see, and from the air hundreds of dead animals have been spotted piled on top of each other.

“This is a crisis for the cattle industry,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.