Australia Weather News

In the untamed coastal wetlands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, a summer of isolation is an annual occurrence.

But because this wet season began in December, a month earlier than expected, cabin fever is setting in for flood-prone communities, with some reaching 10 weeks of isolation.

With another deluge of rainfall moving north toward the gulf in coming days, the region could be cut off "up until Easter".

Carpentaria Shire Mayor Jack Bawden said he had not experienced such a prolonged wet season since the flooding disaster of 2009, when the region was locked down for about 16 weeks.

The saturated roads are stopping trucks from transporting essential supplies, so long-time locals are using barges to traverse the floodwaters.

The mayor said it was taking a toll on residents and State Emergency Service personnel supporting the communities.

"They're out there all day, every day. Sometimes they go for seven or eight days straight without a break [but] there's no other options," he said.

"It's costly, requires a lot of manpower, the hours are long, and the weather's horrible."

Cr Bawden said the fishing town of Karumba was bearing the brunt of the season.

"It's not good for the people of Karumba. They have a long time to go and very few windows where they can get in and out," he said.

With little reprieve in sight, Cr Bawden said it was becoming an exhausting endeavour.

"According to BOM and long-range forecasts … we could be like this up until Easter.

"We get little windows of roads opening and then they close again. The weather's persistently being a nuisance."

Economic strain

Karumba business owner Yvonne Tunney is nearly 700 kilometres away near Cairns, unable to travel back to her home and with no return date in sight.

"We take our annual break over the [summer] period, but we haven't seen a really early wet like this for a very long time," Ms Tunney said.

"We're just waiting out our time in Atherton at the moment, keenly watching the roads and trying to work out when we're going to be able to get back."

She said this year's summer wet was likely to have a "massive" impact on businesses.

"Once we get into the middle of March and into April, it then begins to have enormous financial ramifications," she said.

"In effect, you can lose nearly six months of trade, and that takes an enormous amount of time to recover."

Ms Tunney said the financial burden of supporting tourist season staff while unable to open her business was a struggle.

"We've got staff that are booked to come out, so we've got to look at trying to get them to not go to other positions in the meantime while they're waiting," she said.

"We also have to support them if they're waiting in Cairns, like some of our backpackers.

"It's nonsense to ever think we can flood-proof the gulf … but [it's] rare to get such extended lengths of time with the closures."

Cattle in mud

Grazier Ashley Gallagher is a born and bred gulf resident based at Sawtell Station, 60km north-east of Normanton.

On his ninth week of isolation, he said it was likely to be one of the longest he had experienced.

"It's just unbelievable here. Even country that had been underwater and come back out, it is just saturated," he said.

"It's just muddy and boggy; there's not much relief for the cattle."

Mr Gallagher said this was typically the time his cattle would be putting on weight, but with the unrelenting wet, livestock were jammed up on higher country escaping the floodwaters, unable to feed.

While the cattle search for reprieve, so too do residents.

"Even if you don't want to go anywhere, the thought of not being able to go anywhere gets to people," he said.

"It's just a lot of inconveniences, and we would have expected by now that it would start to ease off a bit, but it hasn't.

"It's a tough one this year."