{"id":566755,"date":"2026-03-27T01:16:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/566755\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T01:16:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:16:40","slug":"katherines-worst-flood-in-28-years-leaves-survivors-with-disaster-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/566755\/","title":{"rendered":"Katherine’s worst flood in 28 years leaves survivors with disaster ‘PTSD’"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the past 48 years, the Katherine River was a place of peace for Greg and Darilyn Wright \u2014 their four boys were brought up along these banks, where they would boat, fish and play.<\/p>\n

But earlier this month, the river turned on them \u2014 fast-rising floodwaters swamped their home in a way they had never seen before.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

On March 7, Katherine River broke its banks, triggering the town’s worst flood in 28 years. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

“This one was a roaring torrent,” Mr Wright said.<\/p>\n

“If you have a look around the block, you can see where it just tore things apart.<\/p>\n

“You couldn’t walk against the current. It would have swept you away.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Greg Wright has lived in Katherine for 48 years, but says he has never experienced a flood quite like this. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

The Wrights had survived the major floods in the Northern Territory town in 1998 and 2006.<\/p>\n

But when the swollen river broke its banks this year, the stress of the event hit them harder than any previous flooding events.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

For Darilyn Wright, the recent floods have taken a heavy emotional toll.\u00a0 (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Many precious items were damaged by the floodwaters.\u00a0 (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

“You think you’re prepared for it \u2014 ‘I’ve been through two, I know what to expect’,” Mr Wright said.<\/p>\n

“I never expected this one to be that really fast-flowing water.”<\/p>\n

The emotional toll\u00a0<\/p>\n

For people who have lived through Katherine’s major floods and chosen to stay in the regional town, there is a heightened anxiety that comes with each new threat.<\/p>\n

NT government minister Jo Hersey, the member for Katherine, is among those to have experienced all three floods and has warned of ongoing emotional impacts.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jo Hersey says many people now have PTSD from the floods in Katherine.\u00a0 (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

“There’s definitely an element of PTSD,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s just the smell of the flood mud that you can’t describe, but anyone in Katherine that’s been through a flood would know what that’s like.<\/p>\n

“It’s the blowflies around the lawn, it’s the blowflies in your house.<\/p>\n

“It’s seeing everything that’s just covered in mud, and people’s lives on their lawn.”<\/p>\n

\"Damaged<\/p>\n

Damaged household goods on the side of Shadforth Road. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

The town this week faced a nervous wait for the prospect of yet another major flood in the wake of heavy rainfall brought by Tropical Cyclone Narelle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A temporary hospital was set up and thousands of sandbags were filled in preparation for the worst; however the river appears to have now peaked, and with it, the threat subsided.<\/p>\n

Food security concerns<\/p>\n

On Katherine’s northern outskirts, the small Aboriginal community of Miali Brumby, also known as Kalano, had another concern \u2014 food insecurity.<\/p>\n

Chief executive of the Kalano Community Association, Alan Mole, questioned whether the evacuation alert on March 6 came too late, with little warning that emergency shelters would not have food.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Alan Mole (right) believes some lessons need to be learned in the flood’s wake. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

“Our members, we don’t have large stocks of food in our houses, pantries full of canned goods and freezers full of meat. That’s not traditionally how Aboriginal people live on community,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“[If] you don’t have access to food, then people start getting very, very nervous because they think that they’re not going to be able to feed their children.”<\/p>\n

Ms Hersey confirmed she had heard some of the concerns about food security while visiting the town’s shelter, but that ultimately, backup measures were taken before any shortages took hold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among those contingencies, she said, one of the shelter support staff was a “chef in a previous life” and “cooked up a storm for all of the people that were in shelters”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jo Hersey has lived through all of Katherine\u2019s major floods in 1998, 2006, and now this year.\u00a0 (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

“I do understand that in Aboriginal communities they don’t necessarily always have that much food on hand,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But I didn’t speak to one person who wasn’t grateful for the help [and] support.”<\/p>\n

The rebuild begins\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Kalano, around eight low-set homes have been completely gutted by the floodwaters. Toys and furniture lie scattered, covered in sediment and completely ruined.<\/p>\n

The repairs are likely to take months.<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/p>\n

Eight homes were flooded in Miali Brumby. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

Tradesman Tyrell Lindsay, 20, is among those working on the clean-up operation and says it has been “one heck of a job”.<\/p>\n

“When we first started, we had a tonne of broken things everywhere, broken freezers, wet clothing, beds, mattresses that needed to be replaced \u2026 chucked into the skip bins,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They lost a lot of stuff.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Members from the Royal Australian Air Force have assisted with the clean-up in the community of Miali Brumby. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

The stink of dried mud also hangs around some of Katherine’s worst-hit businesses as they try to recoup what they can from the deluge.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

The bridge across Katherine River leading into the township. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

Among them is the Boab Caravan Park on the highway to Western Australia, where the park’s residents have rolled up their sleeves to try and get the business back up and running.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sarah Vickers is a resident at the Boab Caravan Park. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sarah has been helping to clean the property after it was gutted by the floods. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

“I’ve never seen a flood like it in my life, it was absolutely wild,” said park resident Sarah Vickers.<\/p>\n

“I was a little bit worried, like, how deep is this actually going to get, and will a croc swim past and bite my leg off?”<\/p>\n

Australian Defence Force (ADF) members have been deployed to help fatigued authorities of the flood-hit township. They have so far assisted in cleaning out 159 homes and businesses.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u00a0Around 50 defence force members were deployed last week from the nearby air force base to assist with the clean-up. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Mattresses and furniture had to be removed from flood-damaged cabins at the Knotts Crossing Resort. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

Standing in the damaged Knotts Crossing Resort, ADF Wing Commander Alex Smith told 7.30 the operation had been “confronting” for many of its newer, younger members.<\/p>\n

“Quite a few people in those lower-lying areas have lost their livelihoods,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Lost their home possessions, and in some cases, lost their homes entirely.”<\/p>\n

Joanna Pace, the resort’s owner, is one of those counting the cost of the flood, the worst she had experienced in 18 years of living in Katherine.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Joanna Pace is the owner of Knotts Crossing Resort. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

“We had around 15 cabins damaged, and that includes all the mattresses and all the different furniture that comes in those areas,” she said.<\/p>\n

“So, this [ADF] group has come in to remove all of that.”<\/p>\n

\"Katherine<\/p>\n

Fifteen cabins were damaged at the Knotts Crossing Resort. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

The NT government did not respond to whether they had an estimate of the damage bill in Katherine so far.<\/p>\n

And as Katherine waits for the 2026 wet season to finish, for many who have lived through multiple floods like Greg Wright, it’s now about getting on with things.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Darilyn and Greg Wright have no intention of leaving Katherine. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

“You just cope with it,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You can’t give up, you just put one foot in front of the other and keep going.”<\/p>\n

Watch 7.30<\/a>, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview<\/a> and ABC TV<\/p>\n

Contact 7.30<\/p>\n

Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the past 48 years, the Katherine River was a place of peace for Greg and Darilyn Wright…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-566755","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}