Record-breaking floods inundated parts of outback Queensland last month, leading to devastating livestock losses. This weekend, one of the flood-impacted communities is coming together for the first event after the disaster.
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00:00I'm here in Eremenga, which is a 12-hour drive west of Brisbane, and where I'm standing right now, late last month, I would have been completely underwater, and that's because Eremenga is one of many outback communities that have been absolutely devastated by record-breaking floods.
00:22So this event today, the Eremenga Rodeo, is the kind of first opportunity for the community to come together and debrief about what happened.
00:34Now, the event has been scaled down a little, and that's just because many roads to neighbouring communities are still cut off, and some people are just too busy cleaning up their properties to get down here.
00:50Nevertheless, it's still a jam-packed day. One of the neighbouring properties has provided all the stock, and that's despite them still being in the thick of recovery and not knowing the extent of their losses so far.
01:03The camp draft has kicked off this morning, just behind me. There's going to be a band playing tonight and an open bull ride, which is really exciting.
01:13There was a community barbecue last night, and that was really important for everyone to come together and chat through what had happened.
01:21A lot of these properties out here are really isolated. A lot of people still haven't even come to terms with the reality of what has happened to them.
01:31Many people still can't access the entirety of their properties and won't know the numbers of stock that they've lost until they start mustering in a few weeks' time.
01:43So there's still that sense of unknown. I actually went to a property about 50km out of town yesterday and spoke to a man that went through a really traumatic time.
01:56He was actually stuck in a tree for a couple of hours after he got swept away from floodwater and was rescued by a helicopter.
02:05His property has been absolutely devastated. Floodwaters went all through sheds full of machinery, and he estimated the property's losses would be around a million dollars.
02:17Not to mention people who have lost their horses, who are like family to them, so it's a really, really sad and sombre time.
02:26But I think an event like this is really important to bring everyone together, let everyone blow off some steam and really enjoy themselves at the rodeo and support one another.