EMERGENCY barges have been deployed to ship food and other essential supplies to vulnerable people in the Kimberley in response to the worst floods in Western Australia's history.
The first barge departed yesterday afternoon from Dampier, carrying five truck trailers comprising close to 110,000 kilograms of food supplies from Woolworths and Coles.
It is scheduled to arrive in Broome on Tuesday.
After this barge arrives in Broome, part of the delivery will be transported on a third barge to Derby - scheduled to arrive on Friday.
Derby also received 700kg of medical supplies yesterday by plane.
A second vessel carrying seven trailers with more than 150,000kg of goods has left Dampier today and is planned to arrive on Wednesday.
Since Friday, more than 5000kg of food supplies have arrived in Fitzroy Crossing and are being distributed to vulnerable communities.
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Another 20 pallets of food supplies will be delivered today.
Since the beginning of the floods the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) has had 59 requests for assistance, with 282 people in the Kimberley being relocated or evacuated to safer parts of the region.
A DFES media spokesman said it was their top priority to keep people on country.
Relocations include:
- 49 people from Fitzroy Crossing to Derby today.
- 22 people have been transported to Derby by bus from Willare.
- 76 people have been relocated to Looma from Camballin.
- 7 people have been relocated from Looma to Derby.
DFES said that 16 aerial assets are currently based in the Kimberley to fast-track resupply efforts and ensure no resident who wants to relocate or evacuate is left behind.
The Government has also employed the help of the Australian Defence Force and Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
A RFDS spokesperson said the RFDS in Western Australia has been supporting DFES' response for flood-affected regional communities in the Kimberley by retrieving a number of high-priority patients from communities.
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Temporarily the RFDS had to relocate some crew and two aircraft from Broome to Port Hedland due to flooding, however all Broome base crews and aircraft arrived back in Broome this weekend.
"Interruption to some Primary Health Services delivered by the RFDS WA within the Kimberley is expected to be ongoing until all flooding subsides," they said.
"We recognise the importance of resuming services to remote communities and will be exploring options to resume as soon as possible."
The Kimberley is the RFDS' busiest region in WA, providing an average of 44 patient retrievals and more than 100 remote clinic appointments per week.
IMPORTANT NUMBERS
For SES assistance call 132 500.
In a life threatening situation call 000.
For the latest flood information call 1300 659 210 or visit bom.gov.au/wa/flood.
COMMUNITY SAFETY
Hazards in flood waters to community inclusive of sewerage, debris, dead livestock and other risks to be managed by remaining outside of water whenever possible.
Hazards of driving through flood waters to be managed by ensuring only attempted when road depths are known and are safe to do so.
Take precautions with wildlife including snakes, domestic including wild dogs, or livestock animals disturbed by flood waters.
KEEP UP TO DATE
Visit Emergency WA, call 13 DFES (13 3337), follow DFES on Twitter, Facebook, listen to ABC Local Radio, 6PR, or news bulletins. During a power outage, your home phone, computer or other electronic devices connected to the NBN will not work. Include a battery powered radio in your emergency kit.
Updates will be provided when the situation changes.
For more information visit www.emergency.wa.gov.au
