Monsoon and tropical low conditions continue to wreak havoc, with evacuations around the lower Daly River, and the Katherine River at Gorge Road. A generalised flood warning has been issued across the Victoria River in the Northern Territory.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Miriam here with a severe weather update for the heavy rainfall and significant flooding that are
00:05 impacting parts of the Northern Territory. Let's jump in straight away with a look at our current
00:10 warnings. Now we've got a moderate flood warning in place for the lower Daly River catchment and a
00:15 minor flood warning for the Catherine River at Gorge Road, but we've also got this larger
00:20 generalised flood warning for the Victoria River catchment. We've seen significant river rises
00:25 throughout these areas that have in some places cut off roads and access routes. A number of
00:31 communities have been evacuated or will be evacuated over the coming days as rain continues
00:36 to fall. If you or anyone you know lives in these areas we urge you to keep on top of the advice
00:42 from local emergency services and keep up to date with the local forecasts and warnings as well.
00:47 We do still have a severe weather warning current for heavy rainfall in the vicinity
00:54 of the tropical low which is currently sitting close to Elliott. Now the heaviest falls are
00:58 likely to the west and south of the low and they may become locally intense with any
01:03 thunderstorms that do develop. That means we could see flash flooding developing very quickly
01:09 in these warning areas, potentially causing further hazards not just to roads and access routes but to
01:16 you and your property. Where will this low track next? That is the big question as the heaviest
01:22 falls really are tied to that system. Well through today it will remain rather slow moving. The
01:28 heaviest falls will still wrap around the west and southern parts of this low but it's not going to
01:32 move very far from the Elliott area. Rain has eased off somewhat across the top end with more
01:39 scattered showers and thunderstorms expected over the coming days but that risk of heavy rain
01:43 now eased off. As we go into the weekend that low is going to remain fairly slow moving but through
01:50 towards Saturday night we will see some particularly heavy rainfall starting to develop to the south of
01:56 Catherine around that western flank of the low and that particularly heavy rainfall across the
02:01 Victoria River catchment is likely to cause further significant river rises over the coming days.
02:07 As we head through Sunday this low will start to push towards the border bringing some of that
02:13 wind and rain into northern parts of the Kimberley. We could even see the system gradually tracking
02:18 towards the Fitzroy crossing with the potential for impacts there however there are still a number
02:23 of different possibilities about exactly where this low will track early next week. Taking a look
02:29 now at the rainfall totals over the coming days we are expecting fairly widespread falls of 50 to 150
02:36 millimetres with higher accumulations in the two to three hundred millimetre range to the west of
02:42 that low. We'll likely see some localised isolated higher falls as well anywhere thunderstorms
02:49 develop. We could also see some high falls about parts of the Cape York Peninsula as the monsoon
02:55 or activity continues there too. As a result we do still have flood watches in place for large
03:01 parts of the northern territory including parts of the Top End and northern interior and across
03:06 parts of northern Queensland as well. This is telling us that further river rises and flooding
03:11 impacts are anticipated over the coming days so it is essential to keep on top of the latest
03:17 forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's website and the BOM Weather app. Stay safe and we'll catch
03:22 you next time.