Northern Territory flooding update: Truckers work ‘flat out’ to get fruit and veggies back on shelves
Dozens of truckers have worked ‘flat out’ to bring fresh food back to Top End supermarkets, with promises it’s back to ‘life as normal’.
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Fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy are back on Top End supermarket shelves, but it could be some time before the Stuart Hwy is fully open to traffic after being damaged by floods.
While most of the road reopened on Monday, a detour is in place for a 20km section south of the Carpentaria Hwy intersection which had been undergoing roadworks before flooding caused more damage.
“There’s been sections of the Stuart Highway that have been wet, that have been underwater, and there are sections that have been bogging,” Ms Lawler said.
“But what we’ve been able to do in a very, very short time through different contractors and through the hard work of the truckies is to be able to get freight into our shops, so if you go to Coles or Woolies or any of the supermarkets around Darwin, they will now have fresh fruit and vegetables.
She said trucking company Centurion had moved about 60 trailer loads of freight into the Top End in the past 24 hours.
“The road though will need to continue to be managed so we (may be) shutting down the road at about six o’clock at night.
“That gives time for the contractors to go through and upgrade any of those sections that they can and then open the roads for the morning.
“Hopefully with the dry weather, we’ll see those roadworks be able to be completed quickly.”
Centurion manager Andrew Ailmore said his team had been “flat out” for the past 48 hours ensuring freight made it through to Darwin but that it was now “back to normal”.
“The trucks have come in, we’ve had to get the guys back in to deliver all the goods that have come in last night – I think they probably got 10 to 12 trailers done last night and they’re back here this morning to go again,” he said.
Mr Ailmore said some truckers had been stranded up to 40 hours at roadhouses waiting to be able to pass through flooded areas.
“But they were all at the roadhouse with something to eat, so pretty good,” he said.
“It’s just life as normal now, the trucks are coming in, we’re breaking them down and they’re just delivering the food on the day, so back to usual services. Instead of rail we’re using our trucks.”
Mr Ailmore said his team was not too bothered by flood road closures, but the 6pm shut down would add some pressure for trucks to made it through.
“We know where the common spots are where the road goes down, and it’s only about once a year it does it,” he said.
“But they don’t make the curfew in time they’re going to sit there overnight.”
Rivers receding but emergency not over for evacuated residents
January 22: The worst of the weather has moved across the border and fresh food is expected back on supermarket shelves from Tuesday, but the emergency is not over for dozens of Territorians stranded by floods.
Chief Minister Eva Lawler provided an update on Monday afternoon at Foskey Pavilion, where hundreds of beds had been set up in case large-scale evacuations were required from Kalkarindji or Daguragu.
“At this stage we won’t need to evacuate,” Ms Lawler said.
“The weather system has moved out of the Territory more quickly than we expected, which is good news to Territorians, but there will still be smaller squally storms that may have significant impact.”
Highway temporarily reopens for food supplies
Restricted access through the Stuart Hwy was possible until 6pm on Monday when it closed again for additional repairs overnight.
For 20km of the highway south of the Carpentaria Hwy intersection only trucks and 4WD could pass through, under escort.
Across the Top End supermarket shelves have sat bare as freight delays – coupled with some panic buying – emptied stores of perishables.
“Late yesterday 30 trucks made it through the Stuart Highway with fresh fruit and veggies for all our major supermarkets and there are trucks literally on the road coming into Darwin as we speak,” Ms Lawler said.
“Hopefully we see fruit and veggies on the shelves tomorrow.”
Ms Lawler said the partially closed section of the Stuart Hwy had already been undergoing roadworks and it was unclear when it would reopen to all traffic.
The Victoria Hwy is closed between Manbulloo airport and the Western Australia border, and is expected to remain blocked into next week.
About 2km of railway has also been damaged between Tennant Creek and Katherine, Ms Lawler said, which would need “substantial repairs” that “could possibly take up to two weeks”.
Barkly MLA Steve Edgington said the government should be doing more to flood-proof key access routes, particularly the Stuart Hwy.
“The Northern Territory government has really dropped the ball because what we’re seeing is year in year out the same areas being flooded, but very little investment,” he said.
“They had an opportunity to put culverts in that (flooded) area so that the floodwaters would go under the road. What they’ve done is patched the road, and now we’re going to be facing more damage, more repairs, and more inconvenience.”
Chief Minister Eva Lawler said the “reality is across Australia there will be times where roads flood”, and the NT government was working with its Commonwealth counterpart to ensure the Stuart Hwy was maintained.
Evacuations for medically vulnerable
An emergency declaration remains in place for Pigeon Hole, Daguragu, Kalkarindji, Yarralin, and Timber Creek, and evacuations of medically vulnerable people are occurring from the flood-hit communities.
On Monday afternoon an evacuation was underway for 23 people from Timber Creek to stay at the Club Tropical Resort at Lee Point in Darwin, while another 20 Timber Creek residents sought shelter in the local school.
From Kalkarindji 33 medically vulnerable people were taken to the Contour Hotel in Katherine, and nine Pigeon Hole residents were also evacuated to Katherine.
On Friday 20 Pigeon Hole residents were evacuated to Darwin, while seven people stayed behind to shelter in the community.
About 50 residents of Daguragu were able to self-evacuate to Kalkarindji on Thursday morning.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Matt Hollamby said he had been advised floodwaters had not impacted houses in Kalkarindji, but teams had been sent there and to Daguragu to assess damage.
“The critical issue for us is to make sure that those houses are habitable and it’s safe for the Daguragu residents to move back into them,” Mr Hollamby said.
“We’re looking forward to a time when we can repatriate the medically vulnerable people and the evacuees back to their home communities.”
‘Unfortunate’: Pigeon Hole rebuilt in a flood zone
For residents of Pigeon Hole, it was the second time in as many years their community was ravaged by floods, prompting frustration from some evacuees that their calls to build on higher ground had been ignored.
The Chief Minister defended last year’s repairs being made in a known flood zone.
“Unfortunately they’ve had two years of substantial flooding which is quite unusual really for out there,” Ms Lawler said.
Repaired homes had been given “a substantial flood level resistance” by being placed on 1.5m pads, she said, with modifications such as powerpoints being placed at high levels.
Ms Lawler said there were long-term hopes to be able to relocate Pigeon Hole to higher ground but the government was hamstrung by a cattle station that owned the surrounding land.
“The issue is around availability or accessibility and getting those permissions – that land isn’t held by government,” she said.
“Those conversations are being held but they’re substantial conversations when you’re talking about moving a town.”
At Kalkarindji, which had to be evacuated in last year’s floods, Ms Lawler said elevated pod homes had allowed residents to remain in the community.
“Those transportable homes that have gone in there (at Kalkarindji) are all on stilts so they’re above the flood level,” she said.
The Victoria River reaches record flood levels
The Victoria River has broken record flood levels set more than three decades ago.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Shenagh Gamble confirmed that the lower catchment at the Victoria Bridge Crossing reached 23.4m in 1974, and 24.2m in 1991.
On Sunday evening the Victoria Bridge Crossing peaked at a whopping 24.3m.
Ms Gamble said most of the river systems affected by flooding were starting to recede.
“The Victoria River peaked at around about 14m and the Daly River has also peaked at around about 13.9m. Both of those rivers have now dropped below the moderate flood level and Kalkarindji has also dropped below the minor flood level.
“With no further widespread heavy rain forecast in those catchments we do expect to see those river levels all across the Territory continue to drop.”
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