00:01In the Northern Territory, the Bureau of Meteorology is monitoring flooding in Catherine.
00:06Catherine, residents whose properties were inundated by flooding over the weekend are surveying the damage,
00:12with some facing weeks of clean-up work and significant costs.
00:16Joanna Holden is the Mayor of Catherine and joins us now.
00:20Good to see you, Joanna. So how are things looking there?
00:22What are the water levels like? We can see the river behind you.
00:25Yeah, morning, Ros. Yes, I'm just in front here of localised flooding that has occurred since yesterday afternoon
00:32because we continue to get downfalls that are, you know, over 10 mils, 20 mils at a time.
00:40So we are urging residents to stay where they are, to stay informed.
00:44We are still on a moderate flood watch, so we're in unpredictable times.
00:49So can people please stay where you are, stay informed.
00:52Roads are opening and closing continuously and floodwaters are changing continuously.
00:57So are there fears that the Catherine River might rise again, Joanna?
01:02So there's, the river is currently at 16.16.
01:06There is a moderate warning in place.
01:09The localised flooding is a concern.
01:12So water's coming up and down around Catherine itself, not coming from the river and catching people unawares.
01:19That's our concern at the moment.
01:21It has hindered the recovery operations in certain areas because we've continued to be cut off.
01:29I do want to say, Ros, I was out yesterday with a team of volunteers helping with the clean-up.
01:34And look, excuse me, but it is absolutely devastating to see.
01:38I know that there are people that are hurting in Catherine right now.
01:41I want to ask them to stay positive, know that we are all bandying together to get out there to
01:47help you as much as we can to get the recovery happening.
01:50It's just a little bit slow at the moment because this weather continues.
01:54And you're telling people to stay where they are.
01:56Are many people still holed up in their homes as the floods continue, Joanna, or are still a number of
02:04people in evacuation centres?
02:06So we have about 700 people that have been displaced at the moment and are in shelters.
02:12We also have certain pockets of Catherine who are continuing to be isolated.
02:16The main street is not open, but people can access Woolworths, and food is available from Woolworths at the moment.
02:24But there are areas such as our Gorge Road, the south side, Florina Road, so Binjari and that, that can't
02:32get into town.
02:33We, the NT government is where it can, doing food drops into the communities.
02:38So people just need to, I think, make sure that they secure NT, ABC, local radio, to stay informed about
02:45what's happening around their area.
02:48And the tip in Catherine is inaccessible, I understand.
02:51Joanna, we're told it'll be closed for the foreseeable future.
02:54So what should people be doing with their big amounts of hard rubbish?
02:59So the council is encouraging people to put it on their verge for now.
03:03We will get some skips, large skips in place, and we will get that information out to people.
03:08But I did speak with the Chief Minister yesterday, and she said that she's happy for us to have people
03:14put the waste on the verge,
03:16and we will work with the NT government to get that removed when we can.
03:20And we are working on it today.
03:22I'm waiting for an update on where the bins will be going by this afternoon.
03:28Joanna Holden, thanks for joining us once again, and best of luck with today and the days to come.
03:33No worries.
03:33Thank you, Ros.
03:34Thanks for your time.
03:35And just quickly before you go, if Birkin want to come and help us with our snapping handbags,
03:40known as crocodiles, we'd be more than happy.
03:43No, shout out.
03:44Joanna, thanks.
03:44Joanna, thanks for joining us.
03:45Joanna, thanks for joining us.
03:46Joanna, thanks for joining us.
03:46Joanna, thanks for joining us.
03:46Joanna, thanks for joining us.
03:46Joanna, thanks for joining us.
03:46Joanna, thanks for joining us.
03:46Joanna, thanks for joining us.
03:47Joanna, thanks for joining us.
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