Cover image courtesy of Edinburgh Park Stud
Ian and Andre Smith’s Edinburgh Park, the only commercial horse operation in the immediate area, is located on the flats of the Manning River and suffered widespread damage with a major clean-up exercise to come when the weather permits.
“We were very fortunate and the water came up much quicker than anticipated. Most of our horses were on higher ground and in one paddock we found some mares in the end and were able to get them,” Ian Smith said.
“This is the biggest flood we’ve ever seen and will rival the biggest-ever flood in the area, which was back in 1866.
“This one’s bigger than the 1978 flood when I was an 8-year-old. I remember Mum and Dad helping out and rescuing people, but this is massive.
“They are predicting more rain and we’ve lost probably 30 per cent of our fencing, all our lower paddocks are gone and our whole irrigation system, which was well above the 1978 flood level, is gone.
“They are predicting more rain and we’ve lost probably 30 per cent of our fencing, all our lower paddocks are gone and our whole irrigation system, which was well above the 1978 flood level is gone.” – Ian Smith
“Everyone here is safe, but you can see vision of animals going out to sea and coming back on the beach and people trying to rescue them. It’s not a pretty sight.”
Edinburgh Park is the only commercial thoroughbred farm in the area and the enormity of the current flood hadn’t been expected.
“The 1978 flood was where our fence line finished and it’s another three or four metres higher again. It was just massive,” Smith said.
The volume of water was unbelievable and didn’t replicate any floods in Smith’s lifetime.
“In the last ones, you used to hear the trees cracking and breaking in half as the flood waters came down. Now it’s just a deadly silence because the water is above the tree level and you hear nothing.
“In the last ones (floods), you used to hear the trees cracking and breaking in half as the flood waters came down. Now it’s just a deadly silence because the water is above the tree level and you hear nothing.” – Ian Smith
“Obviously, we have minimal staff here because most people can’t get in or out and we’re down to bare basics.
Smith wasn’t prepared for anything of this magnitude and while he will face major repair bills, he said the main thing was that everyone remained safe.
“From history, we thought our paddocks would be okay and obviously history has now changed. We’ve seen a bit of backwater come up in the past and those paddocks have now completely disappeared under a torrent of water,” he said.
“We knew there was significant rain coming so we had our horses up high. No-one was anticipating this and there was warning of moderate to lower risk flooding and this has gone past major.
“We’ll get it back to the way things were and I’ve been on the phone to fencing contractors. As soon as we can get the material in here and have everything up and going and we’ll start cleaning up and getting the place back to where it needs to be.”
