{"id":677234,"date":"2026-03-24T01:29:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/677234\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T01:29:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:29:32","slug":"major-flood-alerts-remain-in-nt-as-adelaide-river-surveys-damage-rain-threatens-katherine-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/677234\/","title":{"rendered":"Major flood alerts remain in NT as Adelaide River surveys damage, rain threatens Katherine River"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Katherine River is predicted to rise again, with the weather bureau forecasting likely minor flooding at Katherine Bridge from Tuesday morning and the river potentially again reaching the major flood level within about 24 hours.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Metereology (BOM) said ongoing wet weather from the weekend “has caused significant river level rises along the Katherine River and its tributaries”, including near Birdie Creek where “river levels have exceeded the early March 2026 peak”.<\/p>\n

Moderate riverine flooding was occurring Nitmiluk Centre this morning and BOM said it could rise to the major level “as upstream flows continue to arrive”.<\/p>\n

\"Sections<\/p>\n

The Stuart Highway has been smashed by flooding, with several sections damaged this month. (Supplied: Josh Barnes)<\/p>\n

“Downstream at Katherine Bridge, minor flooding is likely from Tuesday morning, with further rises to the moderate flood level possible from overnight Tuesday,” the bureau said on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

“The river level may reach the major flood level late Wednesday morning.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

BOM also has major flood warnings active today for the Roper, Waterhouse, Daly and Adelaide river systems, all of which have swollen in size and inundated buildings this month.<\/p>\n

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle moved over the Western Australian border on Monday, but Territorians hope extra showers and thunderstorms forecast for the Top End in the coming days will not wreak further havoc.<\/p>\n

Flood-affected Territorian warns of ‘climate disruption’<\/p>\n

Adelaide River, a small town more than an hour south of Darwin, copped some of the most rain from the former cyclone \u2014 downgraded to a tropical low over the weekend \u2014 as it moved over the NT.<\/p>\n

Access to electricity<\/a> and drinking water was cut in Adelaide River yesterday, with a boil water alert still active for the town and a number of remote NT communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Possessions<\/p>\n

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle dumped significant rain over parts of the NT, damaging homes in Adelaide River. (Supplied: David Croft)<\/p>\n

“A boil water alert is still in place for Umbakumba, Angurugu, Milyakburra, Numbulwar, Yirrkala, Gunyangara, Jilkminggan and Palumpa,” NT Health said.<\/p>\n

Floodwater inundated a handful of Adelaide River homes on Monday, including one property the owner said had been equipped with flood mitigation after an earlier natural disaster.<\/p>\n

David Croft said his house flooded in 2007, so he built a wall around it to try to protect it from future severe weather events.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

David Croft said floodwater spilled over the wall he’d built to protect his Adelaide River home. (Supplied: David Croft)<\/p>\n

“And it topped that level by about 10 centimetres,” he said of the recent deluge.<\/p>\n

“The bureau had forecast about 100mm of rain, but we had about 280mm here.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He said the house was “now full of silt” and several of his uninsured belongings, including furniture and books, had “been drowned”.<\/p>\n

Mr Croft said the house, which is located on the Adelaide River flood plain, used to be protected but had since “been put on a refused insurance list”.<\/p>\n

“It’s very difficult to get insurance, and we’ll just move our belongings up to another place and start again,” he said.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

He was worried about how frequently the NT had been hit by severe weather \u2014 the ex-cyclone marks the seventh event this wet season \u2014 and called on the government to do more to tackle climate change.<\/p>\n

“I think we’ve disrupted a liveable climate,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I call it climate disruption because ‘change’ sounds too benign for what’s happening now, and it’s about time we did something about it.<\/p>\n

“But unfortunately, at [the age of] 75 now, I don’t expect to see any action.”<\/p>\n

Residents hoping for the best<\/p>\n

Adelaide River resident Lloyd Beck rescued one of his neighbours using his dinghy to navigate rising floodwater on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Flooding at Adelaide River. (Supplied: Andrew Roberts)<\/p>\n

“They were stuck in their house and couldn’t get out by car, so I went and picked them up and brought them to the other side of town to stay with friends,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They had about a foot to go before water started running inside their house \u2014 it’s on small stilts \u2014 but their vehicle and all their gear has gone underwater.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He shared Mr Croft’s concern about what the extra rain could mean for already-sodden Top End catchments and said he hoped Adelaide River did not get too much more this wet season.<\/p>\n

There was a similar sentiment in remote communities like Beswick\/Wugularr, Daly River\/Nauiyu and Palumpa\/Nganmarriyanga, where some have evacuated due to still-high floodwater and buildings have been inundated.<\/p>\n

Top End floods in pictures<\/a><\/p>\n

Much of the Northern Territory’s Top End was submerged by recent floods. See all of the photos and videos here.<\/p>\n

Fleur Parry, who runs Djilpin Arts in Beswick but has been isolated in Katherine due to floods, said residents were miserable and disappointed.<\/p>\n

“They have all been living at the school, which is on high ground, for several weeks now,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

she said.<\/p>\n

“They can’t get back home because the cleaning and power restoration has been delayed by this new event, which seems to be going on and on.”<\/p>\n

\"Sandbags<\/p>\n

Hundreds of sandbags have been filled in hopes of protecting homes and businesses in Katherine. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)<\/p>\n

She spent some of the weekend sandbagging the art centre’s Katherine office, doing everything possible to limit potential damage.<\/p>\n

“We lifted up everything as high as we could, and now we just hope for the best,” she said.<\/p>\n

Floods close roads, prolong evacuations<\/p>\n

Ms Parry is one of many Territorians displaced by flooding, with whole communities evacuated and major road networks cut.<\/p>\n

A number of sections along the Stuart Highway have again shut due to flood damage \u2014 you can track the road closures here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The recent wet weather triggered several road closures, including along part of the Stuart Highway near Katherine. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)<\/p>\n

NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said flood evacuees from two communities, including Numbulwar, remained in Darwin this week.<\/p>\n

“Palumpa was moved out to the Batchelor education unit a day or so ago, which is great \u2014 it’s much more appropriate [for] longer-term evacuation,” she said yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The ADF has been helping the Top End recover from recent floods. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)<\/p>\n

She said Daly River\/Nauiyu evacuees would also be moved out to the Batchelor facility “within the next day or so”.<\/p>\n

However Labor’s representative for Daly, Dheran Young, has criticised the NT government for changing the timeline for the evacuated residents \u2014 who have spent several weeks already this year displaced due to extreme weather<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It has been disappointing from the CLP government: the change in messaging, when people will be moving to Batchelor,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Right now, people from remote communities in evacuation centres don’t have any agency over their life and it echoes the days of our people from the Stolen Generations.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dheran Young says remote Territorians deserve answers about the timeline for their anticipated return home. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill, whose department is responsible for the centres, later told ABC Radio Darwin Mr Young’s comments were disrespectful to staff.<\/p>\n

“That was probably one of the most outrageous, offensive comments I’ve heard ever come from any political representative,” she said.<\/p>\n

“There were some people who elected not to be evacuated, so there’s the first rebuttal against his claim that there was no agency for these people.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Katherine River is predicted to rise again, with the weather bureau forecasting likely minor flooding at Katherine…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":677235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[285322,285323,4740,280508,285325,285324,273529,50,274462,5569,13272,187599],"class_list":["post-677234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-adelaide-river-damage","tag-adelaide-river-floods","tag-australia","tag-cyclone-narelle","tag-cyclone-narelle-damage","tag-cyclone-narelle-flooding","tag-katherine-floods","tag-news","tag-nt-floods","tag-road-closures","tag-stuart-highway","tag-tropical-cyclone"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116281565448825730","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}