Northern Territory police officer Ben Parfitt rescued 27 schoolchildren from a flooded caravan park in Katherine last weekend, as flood levels not seen since the 1990s inundated the region. The high schoolers and their teachers were without power, water, or food when their camping trip turned into a rescue mission. Parfitt and his colleagues ferried them to a makeshift shelter in boats.
Parfitt later helped rescue a couple and their German shepherd from the roof of a stranded four-wheel drive, footage of which went viral. The dog was lifted into a hovering helicopter after the couple were rescued. “That 24-hour period was worse than the worst-case scenario the Bureau of Meteorology had predicted,” Parfitt said.
Two overseas backpackers have died in the floods, with up to 200mm more rain forecast. Major flood warnings are in place for several rivers in the Northern Territory and Queensland, including the Daly, Georgina, Fitzroy, and Flinders rivers. Hundreds of homes, businesses, and cattle stations have been flooded, with over 1,000 evacuations across Bundaberg, Katherine, and remote communities.
Crocodiles have been spotted in residential streets in Katherine, while in Bundaberg, dozens of boats have gone missing or been swept away. Debris including gas bottles and kegs continues to stream down swollen rivers. Helicopter services like LifeFlight and Heli-Muster NT have been conducting rescues, including a woman bitten by a snake and a family with four German shepherds stranded at a remote campground.
