Central Queensland veterinarians have spent more than two days bunkered down with scores of sick animals at a clinic cut off by floodwaters.
The team of veterinarian doctors and nurses raced back to the Clermont Veterinary Surgery, located west of Mackay, when nearby creeks began to rise.
It came after parts of Queensland have been battered with rain and flooding due to a low pressure system.
Clinic lead Dr Tess Salmond said it had been a "hectic" time trying to care for injured animals amid intense rainfall.
"We had vets trapped here for probably about 50 hours," she said.
With half an hour's notice to get over the creek before it was flooded on Friday, Dr Salmond said her staff quickly gathered food and clothes so they could bunker down at the clinic.
"There is no motel over this side of town, so one of the vets camped in a swag in the staffroom," she said.
"With 30 horses in hospital and we had five dogs in the hospital — they needed to be cared for."
Dr Salmond said it had been particularly challenging keeping the horses safe.
"We've got limited undercover stables and we're trying to rotate the horses through the stables to give them protections," she said.
Staff at the clinic built a special stable to keep the foals warm and dry during the wild weather.
The clinic also quickly bandaged the horses' feet as the wet conditions made them more prone to infections.
"Their feet get muddy, and they get soft and then they can get all sorts of hoof infections," she said.
While the clinic has reopened, Dr Salmond said the owners of some animals were yet to be reunited with their pets as they remained cut off by the wet weather.
"We have got a couple of patients that still can't manage to get home because creeks are up locally," she said.
'Like Noah's Arc'
Meanwhile, several families have sought shelter from the wild weather at the Bowen PCYC in the Whitsundays region along with their pets.
Queensland Police Sergeant Michelle O'Regan said there were scores of animals in the evacuation centre that were "all getting along".
Dogs Willow, Boomer and Milo bunkered down with their owners, many of whom were cut off from their homes due to floodwaters over several major roads.
"We've got about 10 dogs, two cats, a bird … it's like Noah's Arc," she said.
"Here's one of our four-legged friends, we are entertaining everybody, including them.
"Not only are the children getting along but the puppies are making friends too."
Floodwaters don't stop milk run
Queensland dairy farmer Dale Fortescue was also caught in the intense downpour, along with his 90 cows.
Mr Fortescue trekked five kilometres up the Eungella Range, west of Mackay, with his 14-year-old son to reach his herd of cattle that needed to be milked.
He said in the four hours he was out delivering milk, the road back to his property had been cut off by debris caused by heavy rain.
Unable to get his truck past, the usual 10-minute drive back to his farm became an hour-and-a-half walk up the range with only a towel to keep him dry.
He said it was lucky he "didn't have a heart attack".
Mr Fortescue said was not expecting the rain to be so heavy in such a short period when he went on his milk run.
"There is a lot of rocks on the range, [it] will take a week to clear," Mr Fortescue said.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the trough should move offshore throughout the day, with heavy rain easing to showers along the north Queensland coast.
QFES said this morning there had been no swift water rescues in the past 24 hours, a testament to the community listening to messaging about taking care on roads.
"At the moment we still have a lot of days ahead of us where we have people in isolation, depending on the area and the catchment, they are still receiving a lot of water flow and this may continue into the next week, where we will still have areas being cut," Acting Chief Superintendent Brad Moore said.
"We have also now the result of all the water that has gone over different roads and the damage it has done to the roads, we are experiencing a lot of land slides up in the high areas, so there is still roads that have been cut there.
"It is still very dangerous for the community and if they need to travel, we are just asking that they pre-design their route, do a risk assessment on where the safest journey is to get to where they need to go."
Dr Salmond said she was still worried about the imminent threat of more rain.
"It may happen all again, we are just trying to scurry and get everything organised in case it goes over yet again," she said.
