An official overseeing relief efforts said on Sunday that military helicopters plucked hundreds of people from communities cut off by “once in a century” floods in Australia’s northwest, noting that water covered some areas “as far as the eye could see.”
Last week’s severe weather system Ellie, an ex-tropical cyclone that produced torrential rain, set off the crisis in the Kimberley, a thinly populated region in Western Australia state roughly the size of California.
Stephen Dawson, the emergency services minister for Western Australia, told reporters in Perth that “the water is everywhere.”
The biggest flooding Western Australia has ever experienced is currently occurring in the Kimberley, affecting residents in a one-in-100-year flood catastrophe.
He claimed that in some places the flood waters extended for 50 kilometers, covering the entire area.
The emergency follows two years of persistent floods in Australia’s east brought on by a multi-year La Nina weather phenomenon.
Since last year, the La Nina system, which is frequently accompanied by more rainfall, has created four significant flood emergencies in several eastern regions.
Fitzroy Crossing, a village of around 1,300 people, has been among the hardest affected; due to flooded roadways, supplies had to be airlifted in.
233 people have already been evacuated due to flooding across the Kimberley, where almost 50% of the population is Aboriginal, according to authorities.
The Northern Territory received less rain as the storm moved east, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, but the Kimberley continued to see “record-breaking catastrophic flooding,” it warned.
The forecaster noted on its website that “many roads are impassable and many communities are now isolated.”
According to a bureau official, the Fitzroy River broke its 2002 record of 13.95 meters on Wednesday by reaching 15.81 meters (52 feet) at Fitzroy Crossing.
Residents of other tiny villages, including the tourist town of Broome, located around 1,240 miles (2,000 km) north of Perth, have been cautioned by state emergency services about rising water in the area.
Authorities anticipated that the recovery effort would take months, notwithstanding the difficulty in determining the full extent of the flood damage.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the flooding “devastating” and promised help from the federal government.
Authorities stated on Saturday that Australian Defence Force (ADF) aircraft were being employed to aid flood-affected areas and that Chinook helicopters were on their way to assist with resident relocation.
According to a defense spokeswoman, five ADF helicopters will begin operations in the Kimberley by Thursday.
