Australia Weather News

A flood emergency warning is now in place for the Northern Territory town of Katherine, 300km south of Darwin, as river levels across the Top End continue to rise.

The Katherine River is now at 15 metres and rising, with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warning it may reach the "major flood" level by this afternoon.

A flood emergency warning is also in place for the nearby community of Beswick, with residents in both areas urged to move to high ground and shelter indoors until the all-clear is given.

According to the latest figures, 97.8 millimetres of rain has already fallen in the region south of Darwin since 9am yesterday.

"Rapid river level rises are occurring along the Seventeen Mile Creek, Birdie Creek, and Katherine River," the BOM said in a statement.

"River levels at Nitmiluk Centre and Katherine are rising rapidly and major flooding may occur during Friday along the Katherine River.

"Further rainfall is expected during Friday and higher levels are possible."

Forecasters say the river is expected to exceed the moderate flood level at Katherine Bridge by this afternoon before possibly reaching the major flood level of 17.5 metres.

The bureau says a peak above the major flood level at Beswick Bridge is likely from this afternoon and the river could reach 9.5 metres.

Possible March record

BOM meteorologist Sally Cutter told ABC Radio Darwin the Katherine region was potentially "looking at March records here" in terms of rainfall as a low pressure system moved over the area.

"There's a lot of uncertainty as to where this low is going to so one of the models takes it west, the other one takes it east," she said.

"Probably the best case scenario is the eastward movement one because it means we’re getting some drier air up the western side.

"[But] even if the low is not forcing this rainfall we’re still going to see the monsoon trough cross near the base of the top end, enhancing this rainfall.

"The ground’s very saturated so everything’s going to run off and all of this rain’s got to work its way down the rivers."

Ms Cutter said the bureau's Katherine weather radar was out of action this morning but would hopefully be up and running later today.

"The parts are meant ot be arriving this morning and we’re hoping to get it back online this afternoon," she said.

Incident controller Terry Zhang said emergency services were well prepared, with planning underway for potential evacuations.

"A key component of the [emergency operations centre] work is now on the planning and preparation for the possible scenario of an evacuation," he said.

Superintendent Zhang said a major flood warning was expected to be issued "very soon" for Daly River to the north-east, where residents only returned to their homes following a previous flood evacuation last weekend.