True flood damage to Carnarvon farms to be revealed next week when DPIRD undertakes assessments

A specialised team mobilised to assess the damage Carnarvon’s one in a decade floods wreaked on growers will have to wait until the floodwaters recede to access those worst-off. And once the urgent relief work is done, a review of the region’s $65 million levee system will get under way. The powerful torrent unleashed by the tropical low delivered a 200mm deluge on the food bowl region, with some growers watching crops disappear before their eyes as the murky red water tore through plantations. Some have estimated their individual losses to be as much as $100,000. WA agriculture minister Alannah MacTiernan said the real cost was yet to be determined, as the extent of the damage would only become clear once the floodwaters receded. And that assessment would be made by a specialised team out of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, together with the Carnarvon Research Facility, she said. “In order to be able to get to those places that have seen the most damage and to be able to properly assess them, we need to wait until the water goes down. “I think it will be overwhelmingly horticulturalists but they’ve also got people reaching out to those who might be affected in the pastoral sector.” VegetablesWA chief executive John Shannon said some farmers — particularly those with cold storage facilities — would also be dealing with the implications of having lost power during the storm. And others — particularly tomato growers — would be dealing with the disruptions during an important planting period. “They haven’t been able to get seedlings in the ground yet.” Meeting with the shire and growers on Tuesday with Premier Mark McGowan and emergency services minister Francis Logan, Ms MacTiernan said about 20 per cent of growers had been impacted. “There’s a few growers who’ve had some very severe impact and a lot of work needs to be done on their access roads,” Ms MacTiernan said. “(There’s) a lot of topsoil loss, so that’s clearly a problem.” “Even where there wasn’t water you could see the massive scouring that had taken place.” And while the Federal Government announced it would come to the table with disaster relief funding on Tuesday — classing it a Category B event — she said it would not cover restoration of topsoil. But whether or not that would be an issue was yet to be determined, she said. “So we’re having a look at that and hopefully by mid to late next week we’ll have a very good handle on what has been lost by each farmer and work out if there is more (funding) that is required,” Ms MacTiernan said. While estimating the total damage to the region — including roads — to be in the millions, Ms MacTiernan credited the State Government’s $65 million levee system built off the back of 2010’s flood with protecting the lion’s share of growers. However she said once immediate and urgent support had been given, they would conduct a review of the system, which has drawn mixed reviews from growers in the wake of the flood. There’s no doubt that has really helped,” Ms MacTiernan said. “But we want to go and have a look at any ways it could be improved.” “So once we’ve dealt with the immediate, urgent matters for growers — because we want to get them on their feet as quickly as possible — then we’ll go and do that work.