‘A saltwater crocodile on the AFL oval’: worst flooding in decades inundates NT as residents urged to avoid water | Flooding
Katherine’s mayor has warned locals to be wary of floodwaters inundating the town after a crocodile was spotted on the town’s AFL plain; Residents have been warned to boil their water during record-breaking flooding.
As rain and storms continued to drench the Top End on Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology issued major flood warnings for thousands of Territors on the Katherine, Daly and Georgina rivers and near Eyre Creek, with a flood watch covering nearly a dozen river catchments. The bureau also warned of severe thunderstorms and heavy rain in Darwin.
Senior meteorologist Angus Hines said the Daly River, which flows 354km to the mouth of the Timor Sea, was still rising above major flood level after “extremely heavy rain”.
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The river was expected to reach about 15.3 meters or higher on Wednesday, the highest level since 1998, rising from 10 meters last Monday, and the flooding is expected to continue for more than a week.
The Katherine River slowly receded on Monday morning, reaching 19.2 meters before midnight Saturday – its highest level since 1998 – leaving streets and low-lying parts of the community flooded.
Mayor Joanna Holden, of Katherine city council, said she had never seen so many freshwater and saltwater crocodiles in local floodwaters.
“There was actually a saltwater crocodile on the AFL oval last night,” he said. “This adds another element of danger to the whole cleanup.”
NT residents were warned on Sunday to stay away from floodwaters due to the risk of wastewater overflows and crocodiles.
“There are absolutely crocodiles everywhere… please do not go in the water,” NT acting incident control commander Shaun Gill said on Sunday morning.
According to SecureNT, hundreds of people in the flood-affected communities of Palumpa, Jilkminggan and Nauiyu (Daly River) were fully evacuated to Darwin. At least seven schools closed in Katherine As of Monday, five had closed in the Big Rivers area.
The NT health department also issued “boil water” alerts to communities including Katherine, Wugularr (Beswick), Tindal, Palumpa and Nauiyu (Daly River), advising people to use boiled or bottled water for drinking, preparing food or baby food or brushing teeth.
Major transport routes, including the Stuart, Victoria, Roper and Buchanan highways and the Central Arnhem Road, remained partially closed due to flooding.
Dheran Young, local member for Daly in the NT, represents people across large swathes of the remote and rugged country, about the size of Tasmania.
While many residents are accustomed to heavy rains cutting off roads and isolating communities for months during the rainy season, many are concerned and disappointed by the official response to the disaster, which included the evacuation of two communities, Daly River and Palumpa, over the weekend, he said.
“It’s been a challenging time for the residents. A lot of people have been calling me about the anxiety of having to leave their community and come to Darwin, but also about the relief of now being outside,” Young said.
He feared that access to essential goods such as food and medicine would be at risk because many residents were vulnerable.
“They are disconnected, isolated and in very remote locations,” Young said.
ABC reported Rail and road routes were reopened to supply food to the Top End.
Fleur Parry, artistic director of Djilpin Arts, was trying to return to Katherine from Darwin when heavy rains, flooding and road closures turned what was usually a simple journey into an ordeal lasting more than five hours.
“The helicopter was going to come, but then the storm came and the helicopter couldn’t go. Then I took a lift as close to town as I could, but it was a police block,” he said. The police dropped Parry off at his home.
Hines said 571.5mm had fallen at Daly River police station in the past five days, with weather stations in the central and western parts of the Top End observing grand totals of 100 to 200mm. Approximately 241mm of rain fell on Katherine Bridge weather station in five days.
Hines said several tropical low pressure systems had moved into the Top End and much of Queensland, bringing “full tropical moisture” along with heavy rain and flooding.
“It was an unusually wet week, even for the rainy season in the region,” Hines said. He said some five-day rainfall totals likely looked like March records, and more rain had the potential to cause rivers to rise again or cause prolonged flooding.
“Unfortunately, there is no dry forecast for the foreseeable future at this time of year,” Hines said, with the wet season continuing through the end of April.
A flood watch also remained in place across much of Queensland, affecting more than 20 river catchments; Moderate to heavy rain fell in saturated basins along the central coast and parts of Capricornia and Wide Bay.
Major flood warnings have been issued for the Stuart, Boyne, Mary, Flinders, Thomson, Barcoo and Georgina rivers and the Charleys, Barker, Barambah, Cooper and Eyre creeks.
A Queensland Police Service spokesman said: “Queenslanders are reminded not to risk their lives by wading through floodwater. The message is simple; if it floods, forget it.”
The State Emergency Service carried out 54 rescues between 18:00 on Sunday and 08:00 on Monday morning.
The state’s highest rainfall amount (between 24 hours and 9 a.m.) was 260 mm at Brovinia in the Wide Bay Burnett region in the southeast of the state.
Heavier rainfall was possible in the southeast on Monday; The six-hour rainfall total was likely to be between 60 and 90 mm, but will ease from Tuesday.
Australia experienced its fourth warmest year in 2025, with annual temperatures around 1.23 degrees above average. Bureau of Meteorology. Global warming, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
