Australia Weather News

Major flooding is now occurring in the Northern Territory town of Katherine, 300 kilometres south of Darwin, after heavy rain led to rapid river rises this afternoon 

The Katherine River reached the major flood level of 17.5 metres this evening, and authorities are warning it could rise as high as 18m later tonight.

The last time the town reached the major flood level was in 2006, when Katherine residents were forced to leave their homes before the river peaked at 19 metres — the worst flooding it had experienced since 1998.

The Katherine Hospital has been evacuated and closed, NT Health officials said, with 21 patients and up to 20 pregnant women transferred to Darwin by air.

A temporary emergency department has been stood up at the St John Ambulance NT headquarters on Chardon Street.

The Stuart Highway was closed between the Katherine CBD and Katherine East at 7pm, with residents advised to arrive at shelters before that time.

The nearby community of Beswick is also experiencing major flooding, with emergency services warning water levels are likely to peak at 9.5m at Beswick Bridge tonight.

In a statement this evening, SecureNT said emergency situation declarations were now in place for Katherine and Beswick as well as Daly River, giving emergency services "the necessary powers to manage evacuations, restrict access to dangerous areas and coordinate recovery activities".

Residents in those communities are being urged to move to high ground and shelter indoors until the all-clear is given.

In Beswick, people in low-lying areas have already been relocated, and a boil water alert has been declared due to impacts on the local water supply.

"Northern Territory Emergency Services are urging residents across the region to remain alert and prepared as conditions continue to evolve," the SecureNT statement said.

"Residents should prepare emergency kits with at least three days of supplies, secure important items above potential flood levels and avoid unnecessary travel."

Daly River residents only returned to their homes two weeks ago following a previous evacuation due to major flooding.

Earlier today, NT police regional controller James O'Brien said some Katherine residents had already been caught in floodwaters as the river level surged, and the Bureau of Meteorology said water levels in the town were "rising rapidly".

Australian Medical Association NT president John Zorbas said Royal Darwin Hospital had entered into a code brown — an alert highlighting an impact from an external disaster — following the evacuations from Katherine.

Incident Controller Sean Gill said in the community of Palumpa this afternoon, emergency services were evacuating residents from low-lying areas to higher ground in the community.

"The evacuation direction was given by me this afternoon," he said.

"We've got helicopters flying out there and they'll be moving the medically vulnerable and the rest of the community to the higher side of the area.

"At the same time, we will also be providing critical goods like food and water to make sure the community is sustainable overnight."

Roads closed, SES standing by

Katherine's courthouse and visitor centre closed earlier today due to the flood risk, while shoppers were met with long queues and chaotic scenes at the local Woolworths this morning.

Emergency services are urging people not to panic but to calmly make plans to get themselves to higher ground and be self-sufficient for up to 72 hours.

Shelters are now open at Katherine High School and MacFarlane Primary School, both on Grevillea Street, and at Casuarina Street Primary School on the corner of Casuarina Street and Needham Terrace.

Local roads have been submerged, including those leading to Nitmiluk National Park and RAAF Base Tindal.

Residents went to bed last night with the water level at the Katherine Bridge sitting at around 9 metres, but by 9am this morning, it had passed 15 metres and was still rising fast.

ES unit officer Karl Kratschmer said the town had "woken up to a bit of a situation on our hands" as a tropical low passing across the territory had brought heavy rain to the region.

He said the SES had three boats "ready to go", each over 5 metres in length, and volunteers were standing by.

"All our members in Katherine are ready to go at a moment's notice to help the public in their hour of need," he said.

Incident controller Terry Zhang said emergency services were well-prepared.

This morning, Manual Pamkal, a senior Dalabon man who runs a tourism business, said he was not sure where he would sleep tonight if his hostel was flooded.

"You know what, I'm really scared, I don't know where I'm going to stay tonight," he said.

"Maybe take my truck and make a bush camp somewhere, on high ground."

Possible March record

Speaking this morning, BOM meteorologist Sally Cutter told ABC Radio Darwin the Katherine region was potentially "looking at March records here" in terms of rainfall as the 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 to be arriving this morning and we're hoping to get it back online this afternoon," she said.