Dozens of aircraft and a barge are delivering aid across WA’s flood-ravaged Kimberley region as the disaster relief operation gathers pace.

January 10, 2023

A massive disaster relief operation is in full swing in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, as authorities reveal it could take more than a year to repair a major bridge on the state’s only road north.

Dozens of aircraft are flying aid into towns and Indigenous communities, including flood-ravaged Fitzroy Crossing where the airstrip is now able to handle large planes.

“We’ve currently delivered 9150kg of food and 10 boxes of medical supplies to Fitzroy Crossing by aircraft,” Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm told reporters on Tuesday.

“This is a massive operation underway to get essential supplies into that community and its surrounds.”

Comm Klemm said several flights a day were flying in and out of the town and “the airstrip has now dried out sufficiently for us to land larger aircraft”.

“This will increase our resupply capacity significantly,” he said.

“I want to reassure the people in the Kimberley region we bringing a significant amount of food into the region to ensure we have adequate supplies.”

A barge carrying five truck trailers of food weighing 1010kg will arrive in Broome on Wednesday, with some to be transported by sea to isolated Derby, which is down to two day’s worth of supplies.

“The arrival of the barge will be a major step forward in our re-supply operations,” Comm Klemm said.

The Great Northern Highway south of Broome has also been partially reopened, with restricted access for the transport of essential supplies.

Authorities, with assistance from the Australian Defence Force, have started the damage assessment and clean-up operation in the areas they can access.

It’s hoped some people will be able to start returning to their homes, however, many areas remain inaccessible and others have no drinking water or power.

Workers are also fanning out across the region to help Indigenous community members fill-in forms for financial assistance.

It comes as engineers prepare to start assessing damage to main roads and bridges, with hopes the highway from the Derby area to Fitzroy Crossing can reopen later in the week.

Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said the damage to the Fitzroy Crossing bridge, linking the only road transport route to and from the state’s north, could take years to repair.

“There’s a significant amount of damage to the bridge,” he said

“If there’s a significant amount of work that needs to take place, the likelihood is that work would take place after the wet season,” he said.

Mr Dawson said state authorities had started looking at old flood crossings for use as a stop-gap measure and talking to the ADF about building a temporary bridge.

Throughout the emergency, more than 280 people were evacuated from flood-affected towns and communities, with about 175 people in evacuation centres or hotels.

“This has been an unprecedented situation for WA, its the worst flood of its kind in our history,” Mr Dawson said.

“It is challenging and not something we’ve had to deal with before to this extent.”

He acknowledged that many people had been frustrated with the initial slow response to the emergency, which was often delayed due to the wild weather brought by ex-tropical cyclone Ellie.

“Ordinarily with a fire or flood event we are able to get a team in fairly rapidly and work commences on the ground but because the wind stayed around it has made it more complicated,” Mr Dawson said.

“Thankfully the people up there are stoic.”

Flood waters have now peaked in the Fitzroy River catchment and the record-breaking river flow that saw an island sea 50km-wide in some areas is now flowing out into the Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, Mr Dawson confirmed that crocodiles had been spotted near flooded Willare.

“It is a part of the world where there are animals who can kill or take a bite out of you, so please do be careful in the waters,” he said.

“Thankfully, we are not aware of any lives being lost to this point and I’d like to keep it that way.”