The water came in fast.
A monsoonal trough which had been soaking the top end of Australia for days finally overwhelmed the river system, prompting near-record flood levels and ruining Christmas for hundreds of people.
One elderly woman died after her car was caught in flood water at Beswick and she was unable to escape with the four others she was traveling with. An air and land search was continuing for a 28-year-old man washed away in Peppimenarti. Several others were rescued.
On Monday afternoon police announced the Stuart Highway was closed between Mataranka and Elliot until at least Tuesday morning, with a road train stuck at Dunmurra. The Victoria highway between Timber Creek and the Western Australia border also remained closed.
They had earlier warned of an expected renewed peak in the flood levels at Daly River, above current levels, and were watching carefully the 23.3m river upstream at Dorisvale.
“Conditions are still dangerous,” said commissioner Reece Kershaw, urging people to be cautious in their cars and near water. “You can’t beat mother nature.”
About 500 people from the Daly River community were evacuated after the river rose to almost 15 metres and inundated the town. Residents were taken to a makeshift centre at the Darwin showground as reports came in that saltwater crocodiles were entering remote communities.
Louisa Miler’s home was one of the first to be flooded.
“We were up on the balcony waiting for someone to get us out,” she said. “The water was up in the kitchen, laundry, shower and up on the stairs. We had to walk through the water to get to the level ground.
“The kids were mucking around in the water and playing.”
Miler and her family made their way to the medical centre for a helicopter evacuation.
She said the emergency services were quick and everybody got out, dropped off in Batchelor and then bussed to Darwin. The trip was cold as people were sitting in air conditioning in their wet clothes.
“Everybody’s worried about their house and their cars,” she said.
They had to leave pets behind and, with no way of finding out if they were okay, the family was worried. Reports of crocodiles coming in with the flood water and taking at least two dogs had circulated. A big mob of dogs was left behind.
A team of volunteers from government departments, the Red Cross, Foodbank, St Johns, St Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army were providing three meals, shelter and safety to about 390 of the evacuees who would be sleeping there until it was safe to go home.
Outside the evacuation centre Miler and her family pointed to pictures in the local paper. “That’s my nephew’s house,” someone said, while another said, “That’s the art centre.”
There weren’t many activities yet, but Guardian Australia was told plans for sporting equipment and a movie projector were under way, delayed by the public holidays.
There was at least one disturbance as tensions boiled over, and at least one man was taken to the watch house by police to sober up. Otherwise it was calm and people were waiting to go home. Media were banned from entering, but when word got around that reporters were outside, many people came out to talk, to vent and pass the time. The kids played with reporters.
Inside, the evacuation centre was dull, they said, particularly for the younger evacuees. The food was “old people food” and one group – aged 12 to 19 – had come outside for a hotdog from a parked food van.
“It was a bad Christmas,” said Megan Daly. “We couldn’t go into town; all the creeks were up.
“The water was rising quick. We had to wait a while because there were so many people. Some had to stay there while the water was still rising.”
The children and their family waited overnight for a Sunday evacuation and could take only two bags, leaving the rest of their belongings behind, hung up high.
“The next day the water was already on the verandah,” said Chevaughn Gilbert. “Rushing in the house, scary. Everyone was terrified.”
It was a first time in a helicopter for many of them and none enjoyed it. It was “scary” and some got motion sickness.
Now at the centre, they waited. The rain had stopped, but it was humid and sticky, and it is a significant taxi fare to Darwin town centre.
Those who had relatives or another place to stay had stopped by only to register their name.
Steve Kinny, who runs Daly River Roadside Inn a few kilometres from the community, had come by to pick up his partner’s nine-year-old daughter, who had been evacuated the day before.
“I think she was excited,” he said. “The look on her face when she jumped into the boat with a lifejacket on! It’s all excitement and fun for her, and that’s good, but being in a big shed with a lot of people is a bit daunting for a little girl. ”
Kinny got out by boat and car.
“It was just under 15 metres when we left,” he said. “We didn’t have a lot of notice. It came up pretty quick.”
As the water reached the first of three steps into the pub, he took a boat, tied up in the beer garden, to where he’d parked his car at Five Mile just days before.
“We grabbed our dog,” he said outside the Darwin evacuation centre. “Trying to find accommodation with the dog was difficult but the Batchelor Motel looked after us.
“We’ll be able to go back before the community because they’ll have to have all their houses checked.
“I feel for these people here, out of their homes.” He gestures at the showground pavilion behind him.
They planned to stay at Batchelor until the waters receded towards the end of the week. So they’ll be hoping there won’t be too much to clean up?
“Not too much cleanup, no,” he said before stopping himself and laughing.
“No that’s too hopeful. There will be a big cleanup. The water was going through our shed and I’ve got a lot of stock in there ... and if it goes through the pub there’s a lot of electrics. I got everything as high as I could, as everybody did ... It was a lesson to me. You can be prepared but when it comes, it comes so quick.”
