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Foskey Pavillion, Katherine Showgrounds and Marrara Indoor Stadium housing evacuees

HUNDREDS of remote Territorians, including from Groote Eylandt and Borroloola, have been evacuated and housed in Darwin overnight, safely out of the path of Tropical Cyclone Trevor

Peter Chandler arrives with supplies for evacuees  from Food Bank. The Foskey Pavillion at the Darwin Showgrounds has been converted to emergency shelter for many who were evacuated from the path of Tropical Cyclone Trevor. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford
Peter Chandler arrives with supplies for evacuees from Food Bank. The Foskey Pavillion at the Darwin Showgrounds has been converted to emergency shelter for many who were evacuated from the path of Tropical Cyclone Trevor. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

HUNDREDS of remote Territorians, including from Groote Eylandt and Borroloola, have been evacuated and housed in Darwin overnight, safely out of the path of Tropical Cyclone Trevor.

It has been a long few days for more than 1200 evacuees who started leaving their homes late on Wednesday.

Umbakumba resident Lesley Wurrawilya said many of the people who were being registered at the Marrara Indoor Stadium were just tired and hungry.

“We come from Groote Eylandt … about one o'clock (Wednesday),” she said.

“We arrived here at two o’clock in the morning,” she said.

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“It was windy; the water was really rough … didn’t know the storm was coming.”

Inside the stadium, evacuees were exhausted, sitting in chairs or on the floor in silence.

One asked a Territory Families officer if his community had been hit by the storm, unaware of how Trevor was tracking through the gulf.

Territory Families youth justice general manager Brent Warren said the Darwin Showground’s Foskey Pavilion had been set up to host hundreds of evacuees along with Marrara Stadium, while a food hall was set up in the Rotary Hall but emergency officers were preparing for a maximum of 2000.

“At Foskey what you’ll see is the set-up of our evacuation centre, we’ve been setting up all day today in anticipation of putting up to 600 or 700 evacuees here in the centre and also in some tents outside, that will be part of a bigger group of evacuees who will be staying at Marrara,” he said.

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“The decision to evacuate was made (on Wednesday) and the plan around activating this space was made that afternoon. They’ve got a similar arrangement at the show-grounds in Katherine.”

The Katherine showgrounds will house evacuees from Numbulwar, who were mostly transported by road.

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A number of other residents in need of medical assistance have been accommodated elsewhere.

For children, there are basic distractions such as crayons and sports equipment, while “cyclone school” is set to become a regular occurrence in the coming days.

For adults, it’s mostly sitting tight and hoping for the best.

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Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/foskey-pavillion-katherine-showgrounds-and-marrara-indoor-stadium-housing-evacuees/news-story/0629e1dd5b27d0aa08f8b960bd25f93f