Welcome back to the AnK Blog, you may have thought we had dropped off the end of the blogging sphere ! However we have returned. We are currently flooded in here at AnK headquarters, not unusual for this time of year however it is the MOST water we have ever seen flowing through our property. Apparently not as much as the big flood of 1990 but certainly higher than 2008 and 2010/11. Our little town of Alpha was also unlucky enough to be inundated with floodwater, yet again. It has only been 13 months since the last flood.
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| Alpha Saturday 4/2/12 - Photo by Lee Clews |
Alpha was lucky (??) enough to be forewarned about the water, many people in south west QLD are currently not as lucky. Still there will be a huge cleanup, stock and infrastructure losses and many graziers and small businesses will be counting the costs of the 'flood of 2012'. In our area we are usually the first to be flooded in and the last to be able to get out. This is what our creek crossing looks like when there is no water in it. Although we haven't seen it like this for over 2 years.
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| Our Creek Crossing |
To the left of the road crossing we have a footbridge which enables us to cross approximately 2 metres of water, handy when we can't drive out to get essential supply, school mail and AnK parcels.
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| The Footbridge |
We can safely use the 4 wheeler motorbikes on it as well and Mr AnK built a trailer to tow behind to cart luggage, groceries etc
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Creek Crossing 4/2/12
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This is our creek crossing before the current flood peaked. Note the white tree trunk above and compare it to the tree trunk in the empty creek photo.
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| Creek Crossing 5/2/12 |
By the next day we couldn't even get as close as the day before.
With the flood water comes lots of damage - fences ripped apart, trees uprooted and carried upstream, sheds/yards/grids/gates all inundated with the swirling torrent of muddy water.
Yes it is inconveinant not being able to get out of home, but imagine this destructive scene as it passes through whole townships full of houses and peoples possessions. Mother nature at it's worst and best all in one. We need the rain to grow the grass to fatten our cattle, if only we could control the when and how much part.
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| Saddle Shed |
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Our Cattle Yards
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| The Cattle Yards - normally 5 rails high. |
We are patiently waiting for the water to recede to assess the damage.
Roads are still closed in our area as the backed up water that had nowhere to go continues to siphon into the creek system. All of our water flows into the Belyando River and then into the Burdekin Dam.
During the flood crisis we were fortunate enough to have a visit from Cody and Betty.
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Cody from Action Helicopters & his little chopper 'Betty'
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| Cody & Mr AnK |
Cody took Mr AnK up to check out the cattle and make sure they weren't in any trouble.
Mr AnK managed to get some photos which were shown on the 7 news.
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| Companion Creek Alpha |
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| Cattle on their 'island' before the peak. |
We are very grateful to Cody for helping us to keep tabs on the water, he did an amazing job and even took Miss M and Master T up for a ride for their 10th birthday (but that's another blog )
It will be some time before we can operate again as AnK, please bear with us during this time xxoo
