Recently updated

Close

Update 13: Flooding – Northern Regions

6am Thursday 12 March 2026.

An Emergency Declaration has been made covering Katherine, Wugularr (Beswick) and Daly River.

Evacuations have been completed for Palumpa, Jilkminggan and Nauiyu (Daly River).

A boil alert is in place for the following locations:

  • Darwin and Palmerston
  • Katherine Region
  • Binjari
  • Palumpa
  • Daly River.

Flooding - Katherine region

March 2026
A slow-moving tropical low over the Katherine region caused severe flooding affecting Katherine and Wugularr (Beswick).

Palumpa

Palumpa flooding.

Daly River

Daly River flooding.

Litchfield and Coomalie

Darwin River Dam flash flood.

Disaster assistance extended for neighbouring LGAs

Disaster assistance has been extended to neighbouring Local Government Areas, including Roper Gulf, West Daly, Victoria Daly, Coomalie, Belyuen, Wagait, West Arnhem, Litchfield, Darwin, Palmerston and the unincorporated areas of Greater‑Darwin, Cox‑Daly and Marrakai‑Douglas Daly.

This support is helping local authorities undertake counter‑disaster operations and restore essential public assets, including debris removal, emergency works and infrastructure repairs.

Travel

Avoid any unnecessary travel. Road conditions can change rapidly, particularly as the weather deteriorates. If you must travel, please check the Road Report NT website before you head out.

If you have to leave and you can’t take your pets, leave them outside if you have a single storey house. Do not tether them. If you have an elevated/two storey house, they are safer inside where they can escape any rising floodwaters.

Don’t be a floodwit – stay out of any kind of floodwaters. Don’t drive, play or swim in flooded crossings, pipes, drains or culverts. The water may have washed out the road or ground surface, there may be obstacles or debris, it could well be contaminated, and crocodiles are an ever-present risk to the waterways across the Big Rivers and Top End regions.

Please, follow all instructions and stay safe out there.

Stay tuned in to ABC for updates and to follow SecureNT for all the latest alerts and warnings.

Power and Water

Severe weather can disrupt essential services.

We cannot restore power and water services until we can access our infrastructure.

It is a constantly changing emergency situation and Power and Water crews are working hard to keep services connected to as many people as is safely possible. For updates go to the Power and Water website.

Residents in areas facing severe weather should prepare for 72 hours without power or water.

Residents who rely on life-support equipment should be prepared to enact their emergency back-up plan, should power or water outages occur.

If you have a prepayment power meter, keep topping up in case there is a Telstra outage.

If you have a token power meter, please ensure you have enough tokens to see you through a few days, in case flooding occurs.

Stay away from damaged Power and Water infrastructure. It is dangerous.

Stay away from pooling water and floodwaters as there is a risk of wastewater overflows.

If you see damaged infrastructure, call Power and Water on 1800 245 092.

No fly zone

Members of the public are asked not to fly recreational drones in or near impacted areas, as they can interfere with emergency services helicopters and drone operations.

Media releases

  • Pop‑up schools to support the Katherine community opening tomorrow – 10 March 2026
    The Northern Territory Government is supporting the Katherine community to bounce back after the recent flooding event by establishing three temporary pop‑up schools, which will open tomorrow Wednesday 11 March 2026.
    Read the media release
  • Immediate Relief Payments move to new location as flood relief rollout continues in Katherine – 10 March 2026
    Flood-affected residents in Katherine will continue receiving Immediate Relief Payments from a new location from 10am tomorrow Wednesday 11 March.
    Read the media release
  • Additional disaster assistance activated for flood-affected residents in Katherine – 10 March 2026
    Temporary accommodation assistance has now been activated for eligible flood-affected residents in the Katherine Town Council Local Government Area.
    Read the media release
  • Darwin River Dam update – 10 March 2026
    Crews are on site working to restore Darwin River Dam pump station to the Darwin network after the pump station was inundated yesterday.
    Read the media release
  • Updated public health alert on boiling water – 10 March 2026
    The Chief Health Officer has issued a boil water alert for the Greater Darwin and Palmerston areas.
    Read the media release
  • Vehicle and residence recoveries – Greater Darwin Area – 10 March 2026
    NT Emergency Service members responded to multiple incidents on Monday afternoon following flash flooding across the Greater Darwin area.
    Read the media release
  • Darwin River Dam supply interruption – 9 March 2026
    Darwin River Dam stopped operating at 4.30pm today due to substantial flooding of the pump station and associated equipment.
    Read the media release
  • Important update on school bus operations – Greater Darwin Region - 9 March 2026
    The Department of Education and Training is currently monitoring several creek and river rises across rural areas in the Greater Darwin area that are impacting school bus travel this afternoon.
    Read the media release
  • Waste Management for Katherine - 9 March 2026
    The Northern Territory Government is working in collaboration with Katherine Town Council to provide additional waste services for Katherine residents.
    Read the media release
  • Safety alert issued for electrical safety risks after flood damage - 9 March 2026
    NT WorkSafe has issued a safety alert warning of potential electrical failure and fires following the submersion of electrical appliances and accessories during the recent floods.
    Read the media release
  • School arrangements and learning support during flood response - 9 March 2026
    Advice on school closures
    Read the media release
  • NT Government offices in Katherine closed following flooding - 8 March 2026
    Following major flooding in the Katherine region, the Northern Territory Government advises that all NT Government offices in Katherine will be closed until further notice.
    Read the media release
  • Evacuations underway for Daly River and Palumpa communities - 7 March 2026
    Residents from the Daly River and Palumpa communities are being evacuated to Darwin today due to flooding in the region.
    Read the media release
  • Emergency declaration and flood warnings across the Top End - 6 March 2026
    An Emergency Situation Declaration has been made for Katherine, Wugularr (Beswick) and Daly River as flooding impacts continue to develop across the Big Rivers region.
    Read the media release
  • Katherine Hospital to evacuate due to emergency flood warning - 6 March 2026
    NT Health is evacuating Katherine Hospital due to an emergency flood warning.
    Read the media release

Page last updated 13 March 2026

Back to top