Jilkminggan residents to return home after flood evacuation

HUNDREDS of residents of Jilkminggan community along the Roper River will being returning home this afternoon after being evacuated because of flooding.

• Hundreds evacuated along the Roper River due to rapidly rising waters

HUNDREDS of residents of Jilkminggan community along the Roper River were safely returned home yesterday after being evacuated because of rapidly rising waters.

NT Police said 211 people were relocated by boat and bus into temporary accommodation at the town hall in Mataranka on Friday, with 180 people spending two nights in emergency shelters.

The Roper River was rising due to flow from the Waterhouse River and Warloch Ponds.

Updating media at a press conference yesterday, Commander Janelle Tonkin said emergency services began the process of transporting everyone home yesterday morning.

 “We were lucky that the floodwaters didn’t encroach into houses and no there was no damage to any buildings or infrastructure,” she said

“Water levels are continuing to recede and we can now safely transport people home by vehicle.”

She said police finished the repatriation process yesterday afternoon with the last evacuees arriving home just after 4pm.

After initially advising residents to boil water before use and only drink bottled water, the water was confirmed to be safe to drink.

Cmr Tonkin said she considered the entire operation to have been a success.

“The community will be celebrating their homecoming with emergency service providers at a barbecue tonight,” she said.

“With the water continuing to drop, the power on, the shop open, the tap water drinkable and everyone safely home, we can now consider this emergency over.

“My thanks once again to the greater community that came together through this operation.”

However, Cmr Tonkin reminded community residents to remain cautious of crocs in the area after two were sighted in the river yesterday morning.

“Parks and Wildlife are in the process of ensuring that they are relocated prior to community members actually coming back in there is no reason for them to be concerned,” she said.

“Just a reminder to be alert around that issue.”

She said although there was no further threat to the community at this stage, emergency services remained vigilant for further flooding in the area.

“We are still in the wet season. There is still likely more rain to come through the systems we are now at a very high level of saturation right across the Territory, particularly that Carpentaria area,” she said.

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“The BOM will continue to notify us of areas of concern. So, we are on constant watch.”

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