When will schools and shops reopen? How Katherine and surrounds will move through flood recovery

With more wet weather on the way for an already-soaked Northern Territory, many are wondering how the ongoing flood emergency will affect daily life this week.

NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said a large-scale emergency response had been taking place “right across the Top End”, with the 40 staff supporting the Territory Emergency Operations Centre to run “24 hours a day”.

“We’ve seen significant resources and coordination across government agencies to deliver multiple responses to multiple communities,” she said.

As Katherine recovers from its worst flooding in almost three decades, we’ve pulled together this guide with everything you need to know. 

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Will we cop more rain?

Jude Scott from the Bureau of Metereology (BOM) predicted a monsoon trough would continue dumping rain across parts of the Top End this week.

Maggie Nicholls, Grace Kennedy and Georgie Moss had floodwaters rise around their Katherine home over the weekend.(Supplied: Maggie Nicholls)

She said the weather system was expected to shift “towards the north-west coastal areas” over this afternoon.

“But we can still, within this active monsoon trough, expect to see showers and storms bubble up,” she said. 

“That may lead to some isolated totals in excess of 100 millimetres, although around the 50mm-mark is the probable widespread rainfall total for today. 

“These rainfall totals are not expected to create additional river rises.”

Earlier, BOM said northern Australia is currently tracking towards one of its wettest seasons ever, so don’t expect the rain to clear up any time soon. 

Will schools be open tomorrow?

This afternoon, the chief minister confirmed flooding would affect a number of Top End schools — some are still being used as temporary evacuation shelters and will remain shut tomorrow.

Here’s what we know about Monday’s school closures around Katherine:

Casuarina Street Primary School (Katherine East) is a shelter and remains closedClyde Fenton Primary School (Katherine) is closedKatherine Flexible Learning (Katherine) is closed Katherine High School (Katherine East) remains as a shelter and is therefore closed Katherine School of the Air (Katherine) is closed Katherine South School (Katherine South) is closed Kintore Street School (Katherine South) is closed MacFarlane Primary School (Katherine East) is being used as a shelter so it remains closed 

A number of schools in flooded remote Indigenous communities will also remain shut. Here’s what the chief minister said:

Wugularr School (Beswick) is closed Woolianna School (Daly River) was used as a shelter so remains closed tomorrow for cleaningMataranka School (Mataranka) is currently being used as a shelter and will be closed Nganmarriyanga School (Palumpa) is closed Jilkminggan School (Jilkminggan) is closed Barunga School (Barunga) will be open for students tomorrowManyallaluk School (Nitmiluk) is going to open tomorrow

“I will be signing a declaration to make sure that government offices are closed tomorrow as well and the courts will not be open tomorrow,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.

What do I do in a medical emergency?

The hospital in Katherine remains shut, with its final two patients evacuated to Darwin overnight.

Mrs Finocchiaro said NT Health and St John Ambulance had worked together to establish a “temporary emergency department” in Katherine’s industrial area.

This afternoon, the chief minister confirmed the facility had seen 21 patients, three of which were high acuity. 

The town’s hospital has been closed.(ABC News: James Elton)

“We have also, as a precaution, moved 20 pregnant women from Katherine and they are all being transported by air to other hospitals that are able to support them,” she said. 

“We are just encouraging everyone, if there is a medical emergency, please do continue to call Triple Zero (000). 

“If it is a non-emergency, please contact Health Direct on 1800 022 222 so that you can receive support.”

The NT government said reopening schools and health facilities were among the top recovery priorities.

When will power be restored? 

As a result of the ongoing flood emergency, a number of homes and businesses across the Top End have lost power this weekend.

It’s tricky to determine when electricity will be reconnected, but Power and Water Corporation is responding to a number of unplanned outages and you can click here to track the latest details.

People in Katherine are being asked not to enter floodwaters.(Supplied: Maggie Nicholls)

“There are power outages which continue in Katherine and our crews are responding when it is safe to do so,” the chief minister said this afternoon.

“We know of approximately 90 houses that are without power in Katherine.”

She confirmed “power to Daly River was turned off at 8pm” on Saturday night — but Nauiyu locals won’t be impacted because the entire community has now been evacuated to Darwin. 

However, switching off electricity for Daly River has created telecommunications problems in Wadeye. 

SecureNT emergency contact numbers:Emergency — police, ambulance and fire: 000Police assistance: 131 444Power and Water: 1800 245 090 or click here for the live outage trackerStorm assistance: 132 500

NT Police Acting Commissioner Travis Wurst said the NT government’s digital communications team was “working to determine what the issue is and rectify that as quickly as possible”.

“Because there’s a linkage between Daly River to Wadeye, there is an impact to communications in Wadeye at this point in time,” he said.

He also confirmed “there’s no power” in the Katherine CBD.

Is it safe to drink water in a flood?

It depends where you are but, if your community has been inundated by floodwaters, it’s best to avoid drinking tap water.

The do’s and don’ts when undertaking flood clean-up

The dangers don’t end when the flood waters recede. Here’s everything you need to know in the aftermath of a flood, including whether or not its safe to drink tap water.

Public health alerts, advising Territorians to boil drinking water, have been issued for Katherine, Tindal, Beswick (Wugularr) and Daly River (Nauiyu).

Locals will be waiting until it’s safe for crews to start repair works, and Acting Commissioner Wurst said “it is highly likely that we will not be able to commence our recovery efforts” yet in Katherine.

“When I say recovery, I’m talking about surveying so that we can understand what damage has been caused by these floodwaters to allow us to then recommence business as usual,” he said. 

“What that looks like is getting the sewage system operating again, water operating again effectively without the boiled water alerts being in place, and that’s also getting the power turned on.”

Where can I access financial support?

Some ABC readers have asked if the NT government has officially declared this weather event as a natural disaster — the short answer is yes.

This afternoon, the chief minister thanked the Australian government for its support in activating disaster assistance payments for Katherine.

Palumpa is among the remote NT communities that have been evacuated as a result of flooding.(Facebook: Steve Edgington)

“There’s no doubt that we will be working with the federal government for all of the other communities, as those emergencies progress, but right now I can confirm that we are activating disaster assistance payments for the Katherine local government area,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.

She said the Top End was “still very much in an emergency situation” but the current top priority was making sure that people in Katherine “can have access to support as quickly as possible”.

Katherine suffers worst flooding in 28 years as remote NT evacuated

Katherine experiences its worst flooding in 28 years, with several Territorians rescued by helicopter this weekend after they were stranded in a nearby remote community.

“What this looks like is an immediate relief payment of $611 per adult, $309 per child, capped at $1,537 per family,” the chief minister said. 

“Also, there is a re-establishment assistance fund available for eligible households of up to $8,847 — that is for things like white goods or furniture, bedding, and all of those things you can imagine are under water for a lot of people at a really difficult, stressful and heartbreaking time.”

She said there would be “different responses for different communities and we’ll move through all of those”.

What’s happening with evacuations?

Three evacuation centres have been established at schools in Katherine — as of this afternoon, there were about 300 sheltering at Casuarina Street Primary School, 180 staying at Katherine High School and 46 evacuated to MacFarlane Primary School.

Emergency evacuations have also taken place across some of the surrounding remote communities, with several boats and helicopters assisting as water levels rose rapidly through the weekend.

Daly River residents are sheltering at Foskey Pavilion in Darwin.(ABC News: Luisa Santucci)

This afternoon, authorities said there were about 1,000 Territorians currently sheltering in temporary centres.

Here’s where everyone has been evacuated to: 

Daly River/Nauiyu residents are sheltering at Foskey Pavilion in Darwin’s showgrounds (its the second time they’ve been transport there this year)Palumpa/Nganmarriyanga flood evacuees are staying at the Marrara Indoor Stadium evacuation centreJilkminggan locals were transported by boat, with help from police, to Mataranka School in the nearby town

Mrs Finocchiaro said additional shelters at Mataranka’s school and community hall were also operating for Beswick evacuees.

Acting Commissioner Wurst said, while some evacuees knew it was common practice in the NT to bring personal supplies, others had fled with nothing.

Travis Wurst says flood evacuees are safe inside the numerous shelters established over the weekend.(ABC News: Dane Hirst)

“We’ve created those shelters into a hybrid scenario,” he said. 

“Lots of people have just turned up at the shelters — which is good because they’ve sought shelter — but that’s meant that we’ve had to then supply food, water, clothing and bedding.

“That’s had an impact on the provision of those locations, however we’ve managed that sufficiently and adequately over the last 24 hours.”

What roads have closed due to flooding?

The Stuart Highway remains closed on both sides of Katherine, with authorities warning the town “is isolated and it is unsafe to travel” there.

In town, Acting Commissioner Wurst said “there’s no shops that are open, there’s no government business that’s operating” and locals therefore shouldn’t be driving around town.

Homestead Road, at Mataranka, is among the Top End roads cut by flooding.(Supplied: Kash Angel)

And don’t think you can get a peek at the flooding from above either — there’s a ban on all aircraft, including drones, in the no-fly zones covering Daly River, Palumpa, Katherine and surrounds.

Acting Commissioner Wurst said people choosing to ignore advice and drive through floodwaters were “actually causing more harm”.

“Every time you drive up and down the main road, you’re causing waves to go up against those businesses that are currently sandbagged and that’s forcing water into those premises,” he said.

“There’s a reason why it’s all closed off; don’t drive through the floodwaters.”

Remember: if it’s flooded, forget it.(ABC News: James Elton)

Acting Commissioner Wurst thanked the community for cooperating through the severe weather and reminded Territorians “if it’s flooded, forget it” — pointing to the example of a 41-year-old man who was rescued after entering the flooded Waterhouse River overnight.

“He managed to cling on to a branch and required police and local community members to rescue him — that rescue, although successful, placed those people, the officers and the community members at serious risk,” he said. 

Not only will avoiding floodwaters keep frontliners safe, but it’s in your own best interest too, with authorities warning that crocodiles are “absolutely everywhere”.

How are the floods affecting supply chains?

You may have noticed supermarket shelves looking a little bare this weekend.

Mrs Finocchiaro said the severe weather had caused “major impacts all across the Top End”, including in areas not experiencing an emergency-level threat, such as Palmerston and Darwin.

Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare as flooding triggers supply chain issues.(ABC News) The supply chain issues are related to flooding across the Top End, which has cut road access in some parts.(ABC News: Roxanne Fitzgerald) This grocery store in Darwin had its shelves emptied over the weekend.(ABC News) This Coles in Casuarina completely sold out of eggs.(Supplied: Angelique Cook) Officials say getting freight back on track will ease the supply chain issues.(Supplied: Angelique Cook) Nightcliff, in suburban Darwin, was also hit with supply shortages over the weekend.(ABC News: Olivana Lathouris) Fresh produce is especially hard to find in the Top End, with supply chains impacted by severe weather.(ABC News)

In “good news for food”, she said the rail network had been surveyed today “and it looks like trains will now be moving from Alice Springs to Darwin, with the hope that they can get through to Darwin overnight”.

“People will still be in the phase where they’re enacting their own personal emergency plan and relying on their own resources,” she said. 

“Having said that, if people are isolated or stuck or are requiring food, they are to ring the authorities and we will be able to support.”