Queensland south west is experiencing significant flooding, which has had a major impact on communities and the way they earn their money. Flooding has led to the death of thousands of cows, sheep and goats across grazier lands.

Premier David Crisafulli said the impact will have ongoing ramifications, but right now the focus was on keeping communities as safe as possible.

He told the ABC:

It is soul-destroying. We are dealing with tens of thousands of stock losses across beef as well as sheep and goats. There will be a massive economic impact but there is that real social and personal impact when you lose your livelihood. We will have to be there for them in the short and long term.

We still have water rising in the small communities, places like Thargomindah hasn’t hit the peak yet. They are big systems and they take a few days to get through.

We have had a couple of evacuations from some communities and those people are safe and well.

I met some of the residents from Quilpie who are being accommodated there. They will go home to complete and utter devastation. We will have to help them.

The real economic impact and what will flow through the community is the devastation to agriculture. We will have to make sure we continue to deliver fuel and fodder in the short-term. The work has been around the clock to give every hope where there is dry land to keep the animals fed. In the long term we will need to lead a big recovery, re-establishing exclusion fencing and helping them restock after devastating scenes.