A small army of workers are supporting devastated graziers across the region, including the Cloncurry and McKinlay Shires.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A new 20-minute video produced by the Local Government Association of Queensland highlights the work of Blaze Aid and the new local charity Sisters of the North.
Shaydie-Jane Campbell, a Blaze Aid volunteer who comes from a cattle property near Taroom says that when natural disaster hits, it affects everyone.
"I thought to myself if we were ever in that situation and hit by a flood, I just hope that someone would come help us," Ms Campbell said.
"My main goal here is to help someone, just one family in need, that's all I want to do, just pay it forward."
Ms Campbell said she drove 15 hours from Taroom to Cloncurry to help out people in need.
"I didn't know anyone but I went to the Blaze Aid office and they were so welcoming," she said.
"They tell you where to go, they fill you up with groceries and fuel and send you on your way."
She admitted her role was a tough one.
"It's not for the faint-hearted," she said.
"What I've seen in Julia Creek is heart-breaking, dead cattle piled up for two metres against trees."
She said locals were showing great resilience getting on with their lives, a fact repeated by Sisters of the North founder Susan Dowling.
Ms Dowling said their new charity was helping out with a unique voucher system and had raised half a million dollars in six weeks which would be distributed in small payments to affected landholders who would be notified via a text message "ping" they were eligible to purchase goods and services in town.
"We are calling it the 'pings of hope'," Ms Dowling said.
"What the code means is that they've got a voucher with a cash value of $100 which they can spend in a local business that has registered with Sisters of the North, and the business can then claim back from us."
Ms Dowling said their work was in addition to the "big picture fix" which governments were addressing.
"Ours is the milk and bread money, the haircut, the pair of pliers," she said.
"The beauty is that these vouchers are only valid in the six affected shires, keeping money in the local economy."
The trader will then claim back the purchase from Sisters of the North in a cashless transaction.
While you are here subscribe to our weekly email to your inbox at 6am every Friday
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
