Coober Pedy remains cut off | Calls for disaster payments in Kimba | Rail lines to stay closed for more than a week

The damage bill for Eyre Peninsula town Kimba is estimated at $5m following recent record rain, prompting calls for help. Meanwhile, rail lines won’t reopen for more than a week.

There are calls for urgent disaster relief payments for Kimba residents after recent flooding caused an estimated $5m damage.

It comes as rail lines in eight locations between Adelaide and Tarcoola are expected to remain closed for more than a week to allow for urgent repair work.

Earlier this week, the Australian Rail Track Corporation said the repairs would take at least 12 days, affecting deliveries from Perth and Darwin.

“Repair works are underway where possible however additional damage has been identified following our initial inspections,” an ARTC spokesperson said.

Woomera Railway lines. Picture: Damien Butler

Rail lines will be closed for more than a week. Picture: Damien Butler

Meanwhile, Liberal member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey said areas on the West Coast and Eyre Peninsula had been particularly hard hit including to public infrastructure.

“In the agricultural lands, the epicentre of the storm events has been Kimba where there have been gougings of over 300-millimetrs of rain over a four day period,” Mr Ramsey said.

He said paddocks had held the deluge well, but “hundreds of kilometres” of fencing had been washed out and public roads were damaged.

Flooded farmland near Kimba. Pictures: Tara Kenny

“In the case of Kimba, I have had meetings with council and preliminary estimates are four or five million dollars damage,” he said.

“Neighbouring councils have also been affected to a lesser degree, but also have significant damage.”

Mr Ramsey held discussions with Transport Minister Corey Wingard and the National Recover Resilience Agency Co-ordinator Shane Stone.

He called on national disaster relief to be “kicked in as soon as possible” to give councils time to make repairs in a timely manner.

Kimba was hit with record rain over four days Picture: Tara Kenny

MEDICAL SUPPLIES ‘CRITICALLY LOW’

Coober Pedy residents are reporting critical supply shortages including for medication after their main highway closed following a recent deluge.

It comes as the prolonged road closures in the Far North have forced truck drivers carrying fresh produce to detour thousands of kilometres through NSW and Queensland.

Coober Pedy has been isolated from deliveries since a weekend downpour flooded the Stuart Highway at Glendambo.

Trucks have not been able to pass the road since, and the town’s Business Association chairman Jason Wright said insulin levels are at desperate levels.

“The chemist has expressed to me they’re getting to the point where something needs to be done,” Mr Wright said.

He said fresh produce stocks are also dwindling.

“By Saturday, the IGA tells me we will be on long life milk.”

He urged the state government to provide more clarity on when the main highway would reopen.

“You can’t just wait for the water to disappear, something needs to be done,” he said.

“I’ve asked for at least some flights to get some of our critical medications in.”

Giles MP Eddie Hughes said the town had been cut off from communication lines.

“Businesses are closing their doors because they’re running out of stock,” Mr Hughes said.

He said a timeline of the road reopening would assist in creating a contingency plan for getting stock to the town.

“There needs to be a considered and urgent response so the community is supported,” Mr Hughes said.

“We’re basically in the dark, we do not know what’s going on.”

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport have been contacted for comment.

LONG STRETCH

A 250km stretch of the Stuart Highway, between Glendambo and Coober Pedy, remains closed, shutting off a crucial delivery route for communities in the Northern Territory.

Among businesses affected by shortages was the KFC outlet in Alice Springs, which closed on Wednesday because a scheduled delivery of fresh chicken had not arrived.

Richard Partridge, who manages the Glendambo Roadhouse, said there were still about 50-60 people stranded at that roadblock.

He said the tiny community was given a couple hours’ notice before electricity generators were switched off on Tuesday night because of safety concerns.

“The drivers are all sleeping in their trucks, they’ve got the airconditioning but the rest of us are just sweating it out,” he said.

“I’ve got to reverse the ute up today and literally dump all the perishables. It’s been off so long it’s all gone past safe working temperature.”

Power was restored about 2pm Wednesday afternoon, after daytime temperatures had already reached upwards of 35C.

Flooding has forced the closure of the Stuart Highway since the weekend. A truck is submerged at Glendambo. Picture: Supplied

Those stranded at Glendambo have not been given an indication of when the road will reopen. Picture: Supplied

He said the floodwater was receding “very, very slowly”, and several people in cars had been able to cross but were fined at the other end by police in Coober Pedy.

“To cross now undermines the road because the road has been bubbling and there’s going to be lots of mud underneath, so it’s going to be very fragile if they put a truck over it,” he said.

“The water has got nowhere to go so it’s just pooling … we’ve probably got the world’s biggest swamp out here.”

Mr Partridge said major suppliers of fresh produce had on Tuesday night made the decision to turn their trucks around and redirect them “the long way” through Broken Hill, Queensland and into Tennant Creek.

A Department for Infrastructure and Transport spokesman said crews have been working around the clock to assess conditions or make urgent repairs.

“Work crews have been attending the Stuart Highway regularly each day since Sunday January 23 to attend to maintenance issues and sign hazards in preparation for major repairs,” he said.

“As of midday today (Wednesday), the road surface north of Glendambo was covered by about 1m of water.”

The spokesman said the highway cannot be opened until the water recedes and the condition of the road can be assessed.