A Northern Territory police officer has been hailed for rescuing 27 schoolchildren from a flooded caravan park before helping save a German shepherd from a stranded vehicle. Senior Constable Ben Parfitt was involved in the dramatic helicopter rescue of a couple and their dog from the roof of a four-wheel drive in Katherine, which has been inundated by flood levels not seen since the 1990s.
The schoolchildren and their teachers were without power, water or food after their camping weekend turned into a rescue mission. Parfitt and his colleagues ferried them out in boats to a makeshift shelter. 'That 24-hour period was worse than the worst-case scenario the Bureau of Meteorology had predicted,' he said.
Parfitt also assisted in rescuing a couple and their German shepherd from a 4WD stranded in flood waters at a creek crossing west of Katherine. The couple were standing on the guardrail, hanging onto the roof-rack. After Parfitt helped them into a hovering helicopter, the pilot returned for the dog, which was also safely rescued.
The floods have caused widespread damage across northern Australia, with hundreds of homes, businesses and cattle stations flooded in the NT and Queensland. Two overseas backpackers have died, and crocodiles have been spotted in residential streets in Katherine. Major flood warnings remain in place for several rivers.
