Floodwaters are continuing to wreak havoc in western Queensland.
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00:00We've heard this morning about 70 people have been evacuated from their homes and moved
00:07to higher ground in the southwest Queensland town of Thargominda, where they're preparing
00:11for further flooding today.
00:13This extreme weather event started about midway through last week with prolonged heavy rainfall.
00:19As you can see around me, that rainfall has cleared, but the disaster is still unfolding
00:24in parts of outback Queensland.
00:26The focus today is on these towns Thargominda and Yulo, Yulo is close to the New South Wales
00:31border.
00:32Over the weekend, some of the levees were breached in parts due to this flood water
00:37coming through, but this is truly unprecedented flooding for this part of outback Queensland.
00:43The real economic impact and what will flow through the community is the devastation to
00:48agriculture and we're going to have to make sure that we continue in the short term to
00:52deliver fuel and fodder, which the work's been going around the clock to do that, to
00:56give every hope where there is dry land to be able to keep those animals fed.
01:01And then in the long term, we're going to need to lead a big recovery, including re-establishing
01:06exclusion fencing and helping them restock after what will be really devastating scenes.
01:11So that's Queensland Premier David Chrisafulli.
01:14He was in outback Queensland last week speaking there because the agricultural industry will
01:19certainly be the hardest hit here.
01:22Ag Force President Shane McCarthy spoke to us earlier today.
01:26He said it's hard to know just how much stock has been lost because the floodwaters are
01:30still present.
01:31Graziers haven't been able to get out and about to actually measure the full extent
01:35of the damage.
01:36But he says he's spoken to some people who've lost 100% of their stock.
01:40And at this stage, it's about trying to keep that cattle alive.
01:44And one of the major concerns here is forgetting enough aviation fuel.
01:48Shoppers have been integral to the effort here to make sure that they can get people
01:52out safely, they can take cattle to higher ground, and they can even bring food and medication
01:58supplies to towns that have been cut off for days and will likely continue to be cut off.
02:03So in this part of outback Queensland, it's very much a waiting game.
02:07The Weather Bureau says that more rainfall is forecast tomorrow and into Wednesday into
02:12already saturated parts of Queensland, which is bringing anxiety for people who've already
02:18had to weather this storm so far.