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Update 34: Flooding – Northern Region

11am Monday 20 April 2026

Emergency declaration revoked

The emergency declaration for the Big Rivers region which has been in place since early March has now been revoked.

Emergency declarations for Jilkminggan and Wugularr have also been revoked.

Emergency declarations continue, covering a 3km radius of the following communities:

  • Daly River
  • Palumpa.

The emergency has shifted 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.

Daly River and Palumpa

Daly River and Palumpa remain significantly impacted, and those residents face an extended stay away from their home communities. Substantial recovery efforts continue.

Flood alerts

No flood alerts are current.

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

Boil water alerts

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

Schools

All NT Government schools in Katherine are open. Wugularr, Jilkminggan and Laynhapuy Homelands schools reopened for classes for Term 2.

A small number of schools 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.

School closures

RegionSchool
Big Rivers
  • Nganmarriyanga (Palumpa)
  • Woolianna

Regions

Financial help

A range of financial supports are available to eligible Territorians and Territory organisations to provide assistance.

To learn more, read financial help.

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.

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.

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 April 2026

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