Communities in northern Australia have had their roads cut off and face the grim task of counting livestock losses after some areas were hit with the worst flooding in decades.

Farmers in parts of northwest Queensland have already reported about 16,500 dead or missing cattle after the Western River at Winton reached its major flood level, peaking at 4.05 metres overnight on Monday.

Parts of McKinlay Shire, east of Mount Isa, had seen worse flooding than in 2019, Mayor Janene Fegan said.

“A lot of locals are comparing it to the 1974 floods because of the length of time it has been going on,” she said.

“There will be significant livestock losses and at the moment all access to roads to get out have been closed.”

Farmers faced a difficult wait to access flooded areas and count their lost cattle, Ms Fegan said.

“It’s a really difficult time mentally as well. It’s not an easy task,” she said.

“There have been a lot of choppers in the air to help move livestock to higher ground and feed them, where they can.”

Food damage to 794km of fencing and 1400km of private roads has also been reported to Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries.

Richmond Shire had not seen as big an impact as the 2019 flood, but some farmers had been left with no source of income, Mayor John Wharton said.

“I’ve seen a lot of dead cattle. Some people have lost everything,” he said.

The State and Federal Governments needed to launch a similar assistance package to that in 2019 to avoid a mental health disaster and save lives, Mr Wharton said.

Heavy rain had eased across northwest Queensland leaving widespread minor to major flooding across western and northern areas, the Bureau of Meteorology observed.

“However, even in these places where the rain might start to ease off we will continue to see riverine flooding,” senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said.

“We may also see further rises with the arrival of upstream flows.”

Northern Queensland is also facing a potential tropical cyclone impact by the weekend.

A tropical low is set to form in the northern Coral Sea and is a 35 per cent chance of developing into a cyclone on Saturday, the bureau forecast.

Source - https://thenightly.com.au