Residents in the Gulf of Carpentaria are picking up the pieces after catastrophic floods decimated remote communities this wet season.
Many lost entire livelihoods with houses washed away, thousands of cattle dead and businesses inundated beyond repair.
Hard-hit residents in Burketown, where nearly 40 houses were inundated, are praising the work of a small group of Indigenous rangers who were some of the first responders during and after the emergency.
"The land council rangers have made an incredible difference … because of them, people have been able to get back into their houses a lot quicker," Burke Shire Council chief executive Dan McKinlay said.
"Without them, it would have been a far more gruelling and much slower process towards getting back on our feet."
Nikita Aitkens-Kum-Sing was among the small team of rangers who assisted with evacuations.
"We were all just getting in boats and going over and grabbing as many people as we could, wading through waist-deep water to get their stuff and carry it out for them," she said.
"I don't know what would've happened if we weren't here."
Ranger coordinator for the region Desmond Armstrong said the team had been working non-stop since the water levels subsided about a month ago.
"We've been helping people in town and then also lending a hand out on the properties," Mr Armstong said.
"It's really hard to see our people struggling so much. We're lucky we have such a great community and everyone sticks together."
Left to their own devices
The rangers and residents have slammed the government for what they call a lack of support during the emergency situation.
"I really do think there should have been more support … I don't know why the army wasn't called in," Ms Aitkens-Kum-Sing said.
Jil Wilson, whose family ran the Tirranna Roadhouse at Gregory south of Burketown, was one of the hardest hit in the floods where water rose to the roof of the building.
"We didn't know where to start so it was just so amazing that these rangers came out for several days and when they left, the building was a clean, gutted shell that we could do something with," she said.
A handful of one-off payments and loans were announced by the state and federal governments to assist victims of the floods.
Ms Wilson criticised the disaster payments saying they had been hard to access due to layers of bureaucracy and hidden technicalities.
"Government support has been absolutely shocking," she said.
"We spent countless hours talking to people from disaster assistance just to be told we're not eligible for anything because we've had too much income in the previous financial year."
Despite the hard work of rangers, SES and locals banding together, the clean-up has only just begun, Mr Armstrong said.
"We've been cleaning non-stop for several weeks now. But there is still so much to do."
Three weeks after the floods, Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Opposition leader David Crisafulli visited hard-hit communities.
Mr Miles said additional staff would be brought in to help flood-affected residents navigate recovery grants.
