Station owners from the flood-ravaged Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland say they have lost everything, from cattle and stock to freezer rooms full of food, and it could be weeks before evacuated residents in the region can return home.
The majority of Burketown's 150 residents were evacuated Saturday after the Albert River reached over 7 metres on Friday afternoon, exceeding the 2011 record flood level of 6.78m.
About 40 houses have been inundated with flood water in Burketown.
Authorities believe the river has peaked on Sunday, however flood water is expected to remain high for several weeks, fed by upstream flows from saturated catchments further south.
"It seems to have steadied if not started to recede at the moment," said emergency management coordinator for the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Mount Isa district, Elliott Dunn.
"It's really hard with gulf rivers to predict how much water is going to come up from those systems, but it's not rising.
"We will have to wait and see."
Dry houses in Burketown still have access to power and temporary facilities have been established in town for the 60 residents that chose to remain.
"I expect it will be a couple of weeks before we can get people back into their homes and it will be weeks before we can get machinery into these towns to help with the clean-up," Mr Dunn said.
Authorities said across the entire gulf region, millions of dollars worth of damage had been done and severe stock losses were expected, with properties at Gregory hit particularly hard.
"The rural farms around the region, the loss of stock, it's going to be very significant. The roads will be damaged," said chief executive of the Burke Shire Council Dan McKinlay.
Emergency services would prioritise damage assessment on Sunday, Mr Dunn said.
"We have crews on the ground, assessing the situation and seeing what the task ahead is," he said.
Widespread destruction
The entire gulf region has been grappling with ongoing flooding for the past three months, with levels reaching unprecedented heights over the last week.
Jil Wilson and her family run the Tirranna Roadhouse and station at Gregory.
She said the family had lost everything.
"Just the infrastructure loss to run our off-grid business and home is impossible to grasp," she said in a Facebook post.
"Paperwork, pictures, memories, toys, clothes will be underwater. Our office, files, job cards … just absolutely everything.
"Generators and solar systems underwater. Motel rooms, beds, roadhouse stock, merchandise … all destroyed. Coldrooms, freezer rooms full of water. Fuel station and bowser. Let's not mention Telstra towers and roads.
"I already fear what we will see when that water recedes."
Fourth-generation Burketown resident Shannon Moren was evacuated to Mount Isa with her three daughters on Friday.
She said there were concerns about loss of cattle on grazing properties across the region.
"I checked on my parents' cattle property the other day and you can see cattle up to their necks in the water, literally swimming for their lives," she said.
"You can see some of the bodies floating on the water.
"It's really distressing."
Services being rolled out for evacuees
Mr Dunn said a special task force had landed in Burketown to meet with emergency services and coordinate the care of evacuees in surrounding communities.
"Beyond damage assessment, our other priority is looking after the welfare of the people we did evacuate so we have community recovery people that have landed in the region yesterday to take on that task," he said.
Mr Dunn said the 60 residents who remained in Burketown were "doing their best to look after the town's pets."
Residents impacted by floods across the region can access payments from the Queensland government of up to $180 for individuals and up to $900 for a family of five to cover the costs of essential items such as medicine, food and clothing.
Councils will also receive financial support to cover the cost of disaster operations and the clean-up.
