Regional communities in the Northern Territory affected by severe weather and heavy rainfall brought on by ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie now have access to disaster assistance to support emergency relief and recovery efforts.
The assistance for Victoria Daly communities is jointly funded under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements and may include help for people whose homes or belongings have been damaged, personal hardship and distress payments, and support for local councils and residents to help with cleaning up and restoring damaged public assets.
Northern Territory Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison said the Territory government is continuing to monitor the situation.
"While some residents have returned home, there are a number of dwellings that need more work," she said.
"We are working with all partners in the community to provide support where it is needed.
"We thank all the hardworking people who have helped Timber Creek deal with the flood emergency and the recovery efforts, as well as the Commonwealth for their support through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements."
Federal Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour said all levels of government have worked together to provide support to some of the most isolated communities in the country.
"We have been monitoring this disaster closely since it arrived and have been in constant contact with communities to provide the assistance required as quickly as possible," Ms Scrymgour said.
"This funding will ensure that the recovery can begin as rapidly as the response."
Former tropical cyclone Ellie, which caused unprecedented flooding in Western Australia's Kimberley region, has brought heavy rain to Central Australia and restricted access to roads and remote communities after returning to the Territory over the weekend.
Its return prompted a severe weather warning on Saturday for south-western parts of the Territory and a flood watch remains in place and authorities are continuing to monitor rainfall levels.
Heavy rains restricted sections of the Stuart and Barkly Highways and made some access roads to remote communities impassable.
On Monday morning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would work with the Territory government to get people the support they need both now and after the waters have receded.
"This was a one in a 50-year flood in Timber Creek, and our thoughts are with all those who have been impacted," he said.
"I'd like to thank all of our hard working emergency services personnel and volunteers for their hard work and assistance during this unprecedented event."
About a dozen remote communities in the south-west of the Northern Territory have been left cut off by road, air or both in the aftermath of the former tropical cyclone.
Most are inaccessible by road and can still be reached by air, but several, including Haasts Bluff, Mt Liebig, and Ampilatwatja, are completely isolated.
Central Desert Regional Council chief executive Leslie Manda told the ABC that while some communities in the area had been cut off beforehand in late December when Ellie first came through the region, the system's return had seen another four communities become unreachable by road.
"They are dirt roads; once there's water, there will be water damage," he said.
"We''ll do an assessment once we can get to those areas, after the water goes down."
Peter Dash, incident controller of the emergency operations centre based in Alice Springs, told the ABC essential supplies in those isolated communities were being monitored.
"We know there's a couple of communities that in a couple of days were expecting food drops, [and] that may not happen now," he said.
"We are prepared and we are looking at alternatives for getting food into these communities… By no means will they be stranded, [and] they've got sufficient food stocks."
Federal Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt said the severe weather and flooding had significantly impacted communities in the region.
"I'd like to thank emergency services for their coordinated response that ensured residents were taken to safety as houses became flooded," he said.
"The Federal and Northern Territory governments have made… financial assistance available to support impacted residents with their immediate needs to help them get back on their feet and into their homes.
"This funding will also assist councils to cover the costs of clean-up, repairing flood-damaged infrastructure back to a usable condition, and undertaking counter disaster operations."
The Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements is a jointly funded program between the Australian government and state and territory governments, through which the federal government provides financial assistance to support state governments with disaster recovery costs.
Eligible costs include assistance measures for individuals and families, businesses, primary producers, non-profit organisations and local and state governments.
Information on disaster assistance can be found on the Australian government's Disaster Assist website, and the Northern Territory government's emergency information and response Secure NT website.
