Record floods cut-off North West towns as ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie continues destruction

Animals have been forced to take refuge on high ground as record-breaking floods have swept through the Kimberley, destroying major roads and isolating communities as ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie rips through the region. Since the start of the weekend, widespread rainfall totals of 200-500 millimetres have been recorded across the Kimberley Region. As of 9.40am Tuesday, the Fitzroy River peaked at 15.03m — the highest level on record, surpassing the 2002 record of 13.95m. The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the level could increase to 15.2m as the extreme weather system continues to move west toward Broome over the next 24-36 hours. Speaking to the Broome Advertiser, Shire of Derby-West Kimberley President Geoff Haerewa said damage from the floods could impact communities for months to come. “We can’t confirm how much damage there has been to the Fitzroy Bridge until the water goes down but the consequences of (the bridge collapsing) would be catastrophic for Fitzroy Crossing,” he said. “If that bridge goes down there’s no way we could just rely on road access from Perth, there are just too many communities further north of Fitzroy Crossing that would need help with food, fuel, medical supplies, and shelter.” “If that bridge is taken away, we will call on the State and Federal Governments to get military assistance to keep that road open once the water has gone down.” Mr Haerewa said the Department of Fire and Emergency Services was helping with essential supplies at the Evacuation Centre in Fitzroy Crossing. “They have a crisis centre set up in the town hall in Fitzroy Crossing and now we’re just monitoring what they’re doing and waiting for any reports they can give us.” Gogo Station manager Phillip Hams said while locals weren’t yet able to assess the damage, flood waters were among the worst he’d seen. “On our station, we’re fairly lucky because the main buildings are on fairly high ground after previous homesteads were flooded years ago,” he said. “We’ve used the old Gogo homestead, which is about 600m from our current homestead, to track floods over the years with water lines showing some of the biggest, including the 1983 flood.” “But right now the whole building is completely submerged, so it’s definitely the worst we’ve seen.” “In a day or two, once the water clears, we’ll get out in the helicopter and see the damage, but for now we just have to hope we got lucky.” The Gibb River Road remains closed between the Meda Turnoff and the Great Northern Highway, while the Great Northern Highway is closed from Derby to Halls Creek. There are also floodwaters over the Great Northern Highway between Roebuck Roadhouse and Willare Roadhouse and, while the road remains open, extreme caution is urged.