家畜１０万頭超が水に流されるか水死 オーストラリアで洪水

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリア当局は１日、クイーンズランド州内陸部で記録的な豪雨によって川が氾濫し、フランスの国土面積に匹敵する約５０万平方キロ地域が冠水し、家畜１０万頭以上が水に流されるか水死したと発表した。（写真は、オーストラリア・クイーンズランド州ウィンドラで、洪水で冠水した住宅）
　牛、羊、ヤギ、馬など１０万頭以上が洪水の被害を受けた事態について、クイーンズランド州のトニー・ペレット農相は、「衝撃的な速報値だが、洪水が引くにつれて、さらにこの数は増える恐れがある」との見方を示し、「西部地域の州民が被害の全貌を把握し、再出発に向けた長い道のりを進み始めるまで、この数週間、数か月をどう乗り切っていくかを考えると胸が痛む」と述べた。
　オーストラリア気象局によると、一部の町では週間降水量が年間降水量に匹敵する５００ミリに達した。
　ＳＮＳに投稿された写真には、冠水地域に浮かんだわずかな丘に泥だらけの家畜が集まって生き延びている様子が捉えられている。
　クイーンズランドの消防署は、生き残った家畜の近くに束ねた干し草などの飼料をヘリコプターで投下した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/04/01-17:18）

Whole herds of cattle have drowned in vast inland floods sweeping across the Australian outback, officials said Tuesday, as the muddy tide drenched an area the size of France.
Swollen rivers burst their banks after unusually heavy downpours last week over outback Queensland, an arid region home to some of the country's largest cattle ranches.
Officials said more than 100,000 livestock -- cattle, sheep, goats and horses -- had been swept away, were missing, or had drowned.
These are only early indications of the magnitude of this disaster and while these preliminary numbers are shocking, we are expecting them to continue to climb as flood waters recede, said state agriculture minister Tony Perrett.
It's heartbreaking to consider what western Queenslanders will be going through over the weeks and months as they discover the full extent of losses and damage -- and start the long slog to start again.
Researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change amplifies the risk of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones.
- Fodder drop -
Flood waters stretched some 500,000 square kilometres (190,000 square miles) across sparsely populated western Queensland, Perrett said, a landmass roughly equivalent to France.
Industry body AgForce told local media some cattle ranches may have lost almost 100 percent of their herd.
The government Bureau of Meteorology said some towns had recorded as much as 500 millimetres (20 inches) of rain in the space of a week -- their typical yearly total.
Unfortunately, more rainfall is on the way, forecaster Dean Narramore said.
The reason why we are so concerned about that is because we have numerous flood warnings current for much of Queensland.
Muddy livestock survived by crowding together on the few small hills cresting above the flood waters, photos posted to social media showed.
Queensland's fire department used helicopters to drop bales of fodder near surviving animals cut off from food.
The state's primary industries department said some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) of road had been flooded -- a distance greater than the famed Route 66 connecting Chicago to Los Angeles.
Rising waters on Tuesday morning encircled the remote outpost of Thargomindah, which describes itself as Australia's farthest town from the sea.
A makeshift dirt flood levy was dug around the town to protect its 200 residents.
- Cattle country -
Preparations are well underway, including securing food deliveries, ensuring the airport has enough aircraft fuel and if need be an evacuation point and accommodation, the shire council said.
Our shire's isolated properties are stocked with food and supplies and doing okay under the circumstances.
Australia's so-called channel country is one of the nation's biggest cattle fattening grounds.
Most of the time its sweeping plains are dry and inhospitable.
But cattle gorge themselves on the pastures that sprout whenever wet season rains fill the dry creek beds -- or channels -- that snake through the region.