Army sent in to aid Kimberley flood victims

The military has been called in and extraordinary measures are being taken to ensure food and supplies can reach the Kimberley communities cut off by record flooding.

Flooding at Fitzroy Crossing. Picture: Facebook

The military has been called in and extraordinary measures are being taken to ensure food and supplies can reach the Kimberley communities cut off from the rest of the country by record flooding.

Federal Emergency Services Minister Murray Watt on Wednesday said he had approved a request to mobilise defence personnel to help in the evacuation of people left stranded in and around the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia, where record-breaking floodwaters have isolated people in the town of Fitzroy Crossing as well as in numerous remote Indigenous communities in the region.

 

The main bridge across the Fitzroy River – which is part of the only sealed road into and out of WA’s north – is submerged and appears to have suffered significant damage.

WA’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services has warned that many of the communities are likely to be isolated for at least a week, and helicopters are already being used to deliver vital supplies to those locations.

The impact at Fitzroy Crossing means trucks trying to deliver goods from Perth to the East Kimberley now need to take a detour through South Australia and the Northern Territory, adding more than 3000km each way.

Three fully loaded B-double trucks owned by heavy haulage operator Centurion Transport set off from Perth on Tuesday night to begin the long detour through the middle of Australia.

A spokesman for Centurion said the company was doing everything it could for the affected communities.

“The detour will add three or four days to the journey, but it’s necessary to ensure much-needed supplies make it through,” he said.

“Centurion is planning for this to be the situation for some time and once the condition of the ­Fitzroy Bridge is better known we’ll know what we’re dealing with and for how long.”

The company also has a barge on standby in the Pilbara town of Port Hedland, which can be used to deliver transport trailers into Broome in the West Kimberley if the town also finds itself suffering from an extended isolation.

The Fitzroy River peaked at 15.8m on Wednesday afternoon, smashing the previous high of 13.95m recorded back in 2002.

Homes and infrastructure in the region is built to withstand heavy wet season rains, but many have been overwhelmed by the volume of rain being dumped by ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie.

Mr Watt noted that the area was home to a large number of small, remote and disadvantaged Indigenous communities.

“Fitzroy Crossing and a number of other communities are cut off by those floodwaters at the ­moment, and as a result of that, late last night I approved on behalf of the Albanese government a request from the Western Australian government to supply Defence Force personnel and ­aircraft to support Western Australia‘s effort in relocating people out of Fitzroy Crossing and out of some of the surrounding ­communities,” Mr Watt said on Wednesday.

“Because of the scale of that disaster, the evacuation facilities in Fitzroy Crossing are already at capacity and that‘s why we have now acted very swiftly with the Western Australian government to mobilise ADF personnel and aircraft to support the relocation of people from those communities into Broome where they will be out of harm’s way.”

The DFES said it would fly ­essential supplies to communities cut off by floodwaters.