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Update 29: Flooding – Northern Regions

7:00pm Friday 27 March 2026

Emergency declaration revoked

The Emergency Declaration for the Big Rivers region which has been in place since early March has now been revoked.

Four new declarations are now in place covering a 3km radius of the following communities:

  • Daly River
  • Palumpa
  • Jilkminggan
  • Wugularr

The emergency will shift from a ‘response’ to the ‘recovery’ phase, with the Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet assuming coordination of the efforts to restore communities and get people home.

Jilkminggan

Jilkminggan residents have been living in evacuation centres in Mataranka since their community was cut off more than two weeks ago.

The community itself escaped inundation, and the repatriation has been entirely dependent on road access.

On 28 March 2026, Jilkminggan residents will go home via 4WD bus.

Wulgularr

40 people continue to reside at the Wugularr School which has been activated as an evacuation centre within the community. As the Waterhouse River continues to recede, their homes in lower camp will be assessed and repaired before they can return home.

To assist the school in resuming educational operations, alternative accommodation arrangements are now being made to support the displaced residents to stay in community.

Daly River and Palumpa

Daly River and Palumpa remain inundated, and those residents face an extended stay away from their home communities.

Flood alerts

Flood alerts are current for the following catchments.

For the latest flood and weather warnings, go to the Bureau of Meteorology website.

Boil water alerts

Boil water alerts have been lifted for Jilkminggan, Adelaide River, Numbulwar, Batchelor, Umbakumba, Angurugu, Milyakburra, Yirrkala and Gunyangara.

Boil water alerts remain in place for Daly River and Palumpa.

Schools

All NT Government schools in Katherine are open.

A small number of schools in East Arnhem, Big Rivers remote and Top End regions remain closed with assessments being undertaken.

Students and staff safety and wellbeing remains a priority and when it is safe to do so, schools will reopen.

Wugularr School remains activated as an evacuation centre, with the Department of Education and Training supporting the Welfare Group.

School closures

RegionSchool
East Arnhem
  • Laynhapuy Homelands School
Big Rivers
  • Wugularr – operating as shelter
  • Jilkminggan
  • Mataranka – operating as shelter
Top End
  • Nganmarriyanga (Palumpa)
  • Woolianna

Regions

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.

A range of financial supports are available to eligible Territorians and Territory organisations to provide assistance. To learn more, read financial help.

Emergency rent pause for flood-affected public housing tenants

Following an emergency declaration due to flood impacts under Regulation 5 of the Housing Regulations 1983, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Community Development has applied a temporary emergency rent pause for eligible public housing tenants from:

  • Imangara
  • Katherine
  • Nauiyu
  • Palumpa
  • Wugularr (Beswick)
  • Jilkminggan.

The NT has faced major flooding and rapidly changing conditions across multiple locations during February and March 2026, forcing many residents from their homes.

Public housing tenants whose homes have been directly impacted by the February-March NT flood events will be eligible for rent relief for a period of time if:

  • a tenant is evacuated from their dwelling;
  • their public housing dwelling is inaccessible; and/or
  • the dwelling is not available to occupy due to damage from flood impacts.

The emergency rent pause is intended to ensure that tenants affected by February-March NT flood events are supported during periods where they are unable to safely access or live in their homes due to those flood impacts.

You do not need to apply

Emergency rent pause will be automatically applied to eligible public housing tenants in affected communities.

The department will be in touch with tenants to advise them of the rent pause that is applied.

What is happening now

The department is continuing to assess housing impacts in affected areas as soon as it is safe to do so.

While the response is still underway, the immediate focus is on supporting displaced tenants and identifying homes that have been damaged by flooding.

The department is also preparing to carry out further assessments in affected communities to determine the condition of housing and identify any additional support needs.

Use personal protective equipment

If you’re helping with flood clean-up, protect your health. People with diabetes or weakened immune systems should not take part.

Before starting work, cover any cuts with a clean dressing. Wear personal protective equipment (PPE) including a P2 mask, gloves, enclosed footwear and eye protection.

Wash hands after contact with mud or water and shower after finishing. If muddy water gets on your skin, eyes, nose or mouth, wash it off straight away.

For more information view the following:

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

You 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

Page last updated 30 March 2026

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