Three more evacuation flights out of the inundated town of Borroloola are scheduled for Thursday afternoon after more than 100 people were airlifted from the remote community overnight in the wake of heavy rains associated with ex-Tropical Cyclone Megan.
102 people were flown to Darwin from Borroloola on Wednesday evening as part of a partial evacuation of the remote community.
Another 116 Borroloola residents were being flown to Darwin early Thursday afternoon, with two more Australian Defence Force aircraft scheduled for evacuation flights later on Thursday.On Thursday afternoon authorities revised down the expected flood peak of the McArthur River to between 15.5 and 16.5 metres, after on Wednesday predicting the river to hit 18 metres — three metres above the river's record peak in 2001.
"There are emergency plans to evacuate other communities only if necessary, and as part of that planning we have asked the military for aerial support in those activities should they be required," he said.On Thursday morning, NT Police Superintendent and Incident Controller Sonia Kennon said about 102 people had been evacuated from Borroloola on Wednesday, with the last ADF flight having flown out about 7.20pm.
On Thursday, Federal Emergency Services Minister Murray Watt flagged that ADF personnel and aircraft had been approved to assist with further evacuations in the territory.
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