'Years to recover': Gulf cattle station hit by 3 cyclones in 3 months

Tristan and Tanya Gould, the owners of Westmoreland Station, a 258,998 hectare Brahman Shorthorn cross breeding operation in the Gulf country, have faced one of their biggest floods on record, after receiving more than 1650 millimetres since January.

Mr Gould said this was the second highest rainfall in 65 years.

"It has been a big one, we are surrounded by floodwater. Tropical Cyclone Megan passed north west of us and we've had 250mm (in only a few days).

"This is just next level. I think our average annual rainfall was 1100mm and a big year for us is 1300mm, and we are nearly at 1700mm for the first three months. Our highest ever annual rainfall record is 1900mm, so we are lapping that."

This is the third cyclone that Westmoreland has been hit with this year.

"I think we got 600mm out of Kirrily, then Lincoln did about 380mm and Megan would be getting close to 300mm.

"It started raining on January 11 and it pretty much hasn't stopped. I think the longest stretch we've had since January was nine days without rain.

"All the grass went yellow a month ago, I think it will take about four years for the country to recover. There is no amount of lick we can pump into the cattle to make it better for them this year."

Mr Gould said he was expecting large stock losses and infrastructure damage from this one in a 50 year flood.

"This flood has pretty much destroyed the next couple of years. It will take a few of years to get over it, stock losses will probably be longer.

"We haven't been able to see around the whole place yet but we are looking at 100 km of fence knocked about and maybe a third completely washed away and need to be replaced.

"We had a look around with the helicopter after Tropical Cyclone Kirrily and we haven't been up for a look since. We would have lost a lot of cattle during cyclone Kirrily, can't put a number on it yet until we can get out and muster."

Mr Gould is hoping his 5000 head of stock found higher ground.

"Our southern country is higher, our northern country will suffer the most because it's all pretty flat. But the cattle have been wet since the middle of January and the flies are smashing them and anything with a calf if just withering away.

"We are grateful we pull calves off their mothers early, at the end of last year. We were expecting it to be drier given the forecast predicted.

"The market was so crap at the end of last year we held onto them, but pulled weaners off early, just because it was predicted to be a dry one."

Mr Gould said they were starting to work out a plan for when the country dried out, but he was unsure if it would include selling cattle yet.

"It will depend on our losses and where we can move them to," he said.

"Fences and roads will be the main priority. The roads are so damaged you're flat out trying to get a quad bike around, they're just gone."

"We will have a better understanding of losses once we can get around and access the damage completely.

"We aren't the only ones. The McMillans at Wollogorang said they've had their biggest flood in 15 years, and Cliffdale have had a lot too.

"We are calling it a one in 50 year flood because of flood in '73 from Cyclone Bella, that pretty much did the same thing according to records.

"I do believe we will see above average (rainfall) years for the next two or three, just from looking at our records and then after that a dry spell.

"We've had a few dry spells up here with 300mm for the year but we don't get many of them, we usually get something."