The normally bone dry South Australian landscape is being transformed by the floodwaters that have travelled some 1,000 kilometres from north Queensland.
Water is now beginning to flow into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre … and it’s bringing birdlife and grey nomads with it.
William Creek charter pilot Trevor Wright told the ABC that the speed and volume of the water had been greater than expected, with water starting to go into the northern end of the lake after filling Goyder Lagoon closer to Queensland.
“There’s definitely more birdlife that’s really starting to appear and I’d expect in the next few weeks or few months quite a considerable increase along that Diamantina floodplain,” he said. “It has got some positives for the pastoralists on the floodplains and hopefully it’ll increase the amount of tourism in South Australia and employment.”
Some Outback roads that have been cut off for weeks are also beginning to open again, allowing visitors to access the area.
Birdsville Hotel general manager Ben Fullagar said the town had been completely isolated for about two-and-a-half weeks by a ‘huge expanse of water’ but this was now receding.
“From a flood like this we’ll see a positive impact throughout the entire tourist season, so right through until we go into the warmer months again,” he said. “We had plenty of time to prepare and we ordered a huge amount of stock in … we’ve got plenty of beer in stock, that was the very first thing we put on the truck.”
The South Australian Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure told the ABC that Outback roads closed because of flooding included the Birdsville Track from Mungerannie to the Queensland border, the Birdsville Inside Track from Pandie Pandie Station to the Queensland border, and Cordillo Downs Road from the Arrabury turn-off to the Queensland border.
