South Australia rescue flights as outback towns cut off by heavy rain and flooding

Rescue crews are preparing to evacuate hundreds of stranded travellers after heavy rain and floodwaters battered South Australia.

SA State Emergency Service said it was considering sending an ADF plane to rescue residents and visitors from the outback town of Coober Pedy on Wednesday.

Heavy monsoon rains have been moving across the state and parts of Western Australia, bringing up to 100mm of rain every day. 

The massive downpour has prompted concerns that some remote towns could be out of reach while major highways will be inaccessible for days or even weeks.

Flash flooding at the South Australian outback town of Coober Pedy as heavy rainfall continues to batter the region

Marla, Coober Pedy, Roxby Downs, Leigh Creek, Moomba and Marree are some of the towns impacted.

An estimated 20 tonnes of food and other emergency supplies was airlifted by the Australian Defence Force into opal-mining town Coober Pedy, home to 1,760 people, on Tuesday. 

With train tracks washed away and roads underwater, including the Stuart Highway, the inland drenching has also disrupted food and other supplies to both the Northern Territory and Western Australia. 

SES received 80 call-outs from people across the state as flood waters began to rise around their properties on Monday night. 

Port Augusta, north of Adelaide, was hit with 51.6mm of rain in one hour on Tuesday night. 

The Stuart Highway, leading out of the town and into the Northern Territory, remains inaccessible to drivers with the road submerged under 400mm high flood waters. 

Drivers are not expected to be allowed to cross the highway until the floodwaters have subsided completely, which could take as long as 12 days. 

A severe weather warning remains in place for the north-west of WA, with the BoM saying the region will continue experiencing ‘dangerous weather’ including ‘destructive winds and intense rainfall possible in the Kimberley’.  

State Emergency Service Deputy Chief Officer Liz Connell said locals should be prepared for more severe conditions and should keep clear of floodwaters.

ADF forces are shown loading emergency supplies into a plane, bound for Coober Pedy in northern South Australia

Authorities are pleading with people not to drive through flooded roads in the coming days because of the risk of being swept away in flash floods. (Pictured, a ute tackles a flooded road in Broome, which has copped 564mm of rain since Sunday)

Broome’s heavy rainfall included 326mm of rain in the 24 hours to 5am on Tuesday

She also urged motorists to delay any travel plans to the area with many roads still closed.

Premier Steven Marshall said more rain would put extreme pressure on an already ‘tenuous’ situation as he also called on people to cancel any unnecessary travel to the state’s north.

‘It is a perilous situation at the moment. This additional rain is creating havoc,’ he said.

‘I think we’ve still got a couple of worrying days ahead of us.’ 

Current estimates suggest regular rail freight routes will remain closed for at least another 12 days and possibly longer.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation said repairs were underway along a section of track more than 300 kilometres long with 18 separate damage sites identified.

Damage reports for roads across SA north continued to be hampered by high water levels making full assessments impossible at this stage.

A 14-day major emergency was declared in South Australia on Friday, allowing the state’s Police Commissioner Grant Stevens to direct the movement of freight, ensure food security and co-ordinate relief efforts.