Australia hit by ‘one-in-100-year’ floods as hundreds airlifted to safety

A remote region in Australia’s outback has been hit by “one-in-100-year” floods which have forced military aircraft to evacuate residents.

The crisis in Western Australia’s Kimberley region was sparked last week by former tropical cyclone Ellie, which brought a year’s worth of rain to some areas in a matter of days.

Military aircraft helped airlift supplies and evacuated residents to safety in cut-off towns such as Fitzroy Crossing, home to around 1,000 people.

The country’s prime minister pledged to repair homes and rebuild infrastructure as he visited the communities affected.

Western Australia Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said: “People in the Kimberley are experiencing a one-in-100-year flood event, the worst flooding Western Australia has had in its history.”

He said “the water is everywhere” and that in some areas the flood waters stretched for 31 miles (50km), with inundation “as far as the eye can see”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was too soon to estimate the full cost of rebuilding wrecked highways and bridges but that the final figure would be “very large”.

“We’ve seen massive infrastructure damage, we’ve seen people who have lost just about everything as a result of this,” Mr Albanese added.

He promised A$10,000 (£5,700) for home repairs and up to the same amount to replace household goods.

Lach McClymont, who manages a 500-square-mile (300,000-acre) property, running 10,000 head of cattle, told Sky News there were up to 50 helicopters working across the region, slinging hay to thousands of stranded livestock.

“This will go on for days and days,” he added.

Authorities said the Great Northern Highway, which connects the country’s vast north, is broken in several places, as the swollen Fitzroy River poured onto floodplains with waters spreading for miles from the riverbed in some places.

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More than 280 people across the region have been evacuated or relocated, state authorities said on Sunday.

Geoff Haerewa, president of the Derby and West Kimberly Shire, told 6PR radio on Monday that the evacuation centre at Fitzroy Crossing did not have enough toilets or facilities to cope with up to 300 displaced people.

Over the last year, Australia has been slammed by floods.

In March 2022, the New South Wales city of Lismore was inundated, western Sydney has been hit multiple times and a slow-moving outback flood has cut off towns and villages in an area stretching from the states of New South Wales, to Victoria and now South Australia.

Australia’s climate change minister Chris Bowen said there was “absolutely” a link between global warming and the record flooding.

The Bureau of Meteorology said 2022 was the ninth-wettest year on record.