00:02While it was a tropical cyclone, we know it hit the eastern top end coast near Cape Shield which is
00:08very close to Groot Island this morning at about 3.30am as a Category 3 cyclone.
00:14The Police Commissioner will go into it into more detail but our early indications are that there is no major
00:19damage to infrastructure and we have had no reports of injuries which is amazing news.
00:24I've been waiting for that update and thank God that it came so that's really great news for people who've
00:30been bearing the brunt of the cyclone overnight.
00:33Darwin has now been included in the severe weather warning though and so people need to be staying connected to
00:40Secure NT and all of the current updates to make sure they're very understanding of what will take place over
00:46the course of today and tomorrow.
00:49Ex-tropical cyclone Narelle will continue to weaken as she moves across further inland but we are going to be
00:57experiencing further intense rainfall and that is going to impact places like Catherine.
01:02We are now expecting in Catherine for there to be even larger levels of flooding than we saw a fortnight
01:09ago but the community is well prepared.
01:11We've got, you know, 10,000 sandbags have gone into that community along with other preparations and it's looking like
01:18lunchtime tomorrow will be when we can expect that Catherine River level to really start to come up.
01:24I will this afternoon be signing a declaration to close some schools in Catherine for tomorrow.
01:30We know that government offices are closed and we need people to be making sure they're able to prepare and
01:36look after their families.
01:37And so again, I just reinforce for people in all flood affected areas, please make sure you are staying connected
01:43to the information.
01:45Your child's schooling might be impacted tomorrow as with a number of remote schools which we are also working through
01:50later today and into this afternoon.
01:55Evacuations of Catherine Hospital have also taken place to a smaller extent than what we saw a fortnight ago.
02:01We've had 20 patients transferred to both Darwin Private and Palmerston Regional Hospitals and nine pregnant women were evacuated just
02:09as a matter of precaution, which is exactly what we did last time and they're being really well cared for.
02:14The difference is we now have the critical care and trauma centre are standing up the field hospital in Catherine,
02:19which will mean we've got much greater operability to keep people really safe.
02:24But with the services that they need in Catherine and that will be ready by lunchtime tomorrow, which has been
02:30an amazing amount of work.
02:32And I thank everyone involved with that, including the federal government.
02:35It's been fantastic.
02:37This is our seventh high-risk weather event.
02:40And so just a reminder to everyone, the ground is saturated.
02:44Our rivers are already full and any additional rainfall, which could be in the couple of hundred millimetres, is going
02:50to make a significant impact and it could have rapid consequences.
02:55So people do need to stay alert.
02:57If we see flash flooding, it could include the Darwin rural area again as well.
03:02We know parts of Humpty Doo, for example, and Darwin River experience flash flooding.
03:07And so anyone who has seen water levels rise or been inundated and impacted, you must remain vigilant.
03:14This could impact you again.
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