Tropical Cyclone Narelle Downgraded, Northern Territory Braces for Major Flooding
Tropical Cyclone Narelle has been downgraded to a tropical low after making landfall on the Northern Territory’s east coast, tracking inland towards Western Australia. While the immediate threat of a category five cyclone has passed, the system is still expected to deliver significant rainfall to an already saturated region, prompting major flood warnings across the Top End.
The cyclone initially carved a destructive path across Far North Queensland on Friday, approaching the coast as a powerful category five storm. It then moved across the Gulf of Carpentaria before crossing the NT coast early on Sunday as a category three system. Authorities have since downgraded it to a tropical low.
Despite the downgrade, Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro urged residents to remain vigilant. “This is our seventh high-risk weather event,” she stated. “The ground is saturated, our rivers are already full, and any additional rainfall – which could be in the couple of hundred millilitres – is going to have a significant impact and could have rapid consequences. So, people do need to stay alert.”
Major Flood Warnings Issued for Key Northern Territory Locations
As a tropical low, the system is forecast to bring substantial rainfall to catchments that are already saturated from previous wet weather events. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a major flood warning for Nitmiluk Centre overnight, and for Katherine Bridge from Monday afternoon.
The Katherine River at the bridge is predicted to exceed the minor flood level of 16 metres on Sunday night. By Monday morning, it could surpass the moderate flood level of 16.5 metres, with expectations of reaching the major flood level of 17.5 metres on Monday afternoon. This comes as the town of Katherine recently experienced significant inundation earlier this month when the river rose rapidly after a tropical low delivered heavy rain to the catchment.
The Bureau of Meteorology has indicated that this wet season could potentially rank as the tenth wettest on record for northern Australia.
Further downstream, the community of Nauiyu on the Daly River remains submerged due to ongoing major flooding. This community is currently experiencing its worst flood on record. All residents have been evacuated to Darwin and are now being accommodated in facilities in Batchelor, south of the city.
Major flooding is also a possibility at Adelaide River Town during Monday, with river levels anticipated to rise above the minor flood level overnight on Sunday. Along the Waterhouse River, at the Beswick Bridge, major flooding is also likely to commence from Monday morning.
Emergency Response and Field Hospital Deployed in Katherine
In anticipation of the severe weather, emergency supplies have been transported into Katherine overnight. Evacuation shelters are prepared and ready to be activated, and thousands of sandbags have been distributed to homes and businesses in the town to mitigate potential flood damage.
A significant deployment has also been made by the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre (NCCTRC), which has set up a field hospital in East Katherine. Crews from the Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) worked through Saturday night to establish the facility ahead of the tropical low’s arrival. The AUSMAT team, a component of the NCCTRC, is typically deployed during major national and international disaster events. This marks the first time in Australian history that the NCCTRC has been deployed domestically to this extent.
NT Health announced on Sunday afternoon that Katherine Hospital had been temporarily closed due to the flood risk. Emergency medical care is now accessible at the AUSMAT field hospital, which is equipped to provide a range of services including emergency care, maternity services, radiology, resuscitation, and primary care.
East Arnhem Land Largely Spared from Cyclone Impact
Despite the category three impact on the NT coast, NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole reported no significant injuries. “At this stage, the Northern Territory appears to have avoided any significant damage, with impacts largely limited to localised clean-up and recovery efforts,” he stated.
A community broadcaster on Groote Eylandt reported that the island had escaped serious damage after the cyclone made landfall as a category three system. Percy Bishop, a broadcaster for Groote Radio, provided continuous updates to the community for 24 hours when internet services were disrupted as the weather system passed. Mr. Bishop described the storm as severe but not as dire as initially feared. “You could hear the wind groaning, you could hear some of the trees bending, you could certainly hear the crescendo of sound come up,” he recounted.
A Facebook post from the Alyungula-based Arirrki Aboriginal Corporation indicated that, based on radar and observations, Groote Eylandt had largely avoided the most intense part of the system. The post concluded, “In simple terms: Groote got lucky.”
