The Australian Defence Force is set to fly in 20 tonnes of essential food and supplies to Coober Pedy as SA's flood-stricken north prepares for more extreme weather in the next 72 hours.
Between 50mm and 100mm of rain is predicted but there could be up to 200mm, potentially causing more damage or preventing repairs to highways and rail lines to the NT and WA.
The Stuart Highway remains under half a metre of water at Glendambo, preventing direct travel between Adelaide and the Northern Territory.
Over the past week, residents in Coober Pedy have expressed concern over empty shelves in the local supermarket as the town went seven days without a delivery of fresh produce.
South Australia Premier Steven Marshall said the Australian Defence Force (ADF) would make an emergency drop off of "essential provisions" within the next 24 hours.
"We are very grateful to our friends in the Australian Defence Force who have been helping South Australia, first with the bushfires of course, then with our response to coronavirus and now with these extreme weather events," he said.
There will be several ADF flights into Coober Pedy to deliver the 20 tonnes of goods, with the first flight expected to leave the Edinburgh base on Monday morning.
Mr Marshall urged motorists to avoid travelling to the region.
"Our concern is the further extreme weather and rainfall events forecast over the next 72 hours.
"This is going to further exacerbate the already difficult situation that we are envisaging."
Truck drivers reported for breaching road block
SA Police Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said several heavy vehicle operators breached the road block on the Stuart Highway last night and have been reported for various offences.
"Whilst we understand that people are feeling frustrated, that people are feeling isolated in that area, there is no excuse for going through a roadblock," he said.
"The road is closed. You are not permitted to travel through that area… for your own safety and the other reason is if further damage is caused to that road it may impede the emergency services' responses to restoring the road network."
SES chief officer Chris Beattie said the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator had approved an alternative route for trucks to reach Darwin through New South Wales and Queensland.
"That route has been open for the past 24 hours and we do have freight that have been rediverted via that new route," he said.
"There have been some reports that there are delays on that route due to flooding at the border of Queensland but the latest advice is that the trucks are still moving and the Heavy Vehicle National Regulator is investigating and looking at some alternatives to speed up the transit."
Mr Beattie said work to repair the washed-out rail tracks would not be completed until the second half of next month, at the earliest.
"That said, with the pending weather, there is a possibility that this may be delayed further," he said.
Shelves left bare in Alice Springs
Alice Springs has also been struggling with a lack of supplies being delivered to local supermarkets.
Stores had been waiting on a truckload of produce that had taken a 3,000-kilometre detour through Queensland.
However, that truckload has been stopped in Winton amid flooding in western Queensland.
On Friday, Lhere Artepe Enterprises chief executive, Sally McMartin, said the three local stores had all but run out of meat, fresh fruit and vegetables and stocks of frozen vegetables were also very low.
She said she was "shocked at the lack of response" from the Northern Territory government.
"If Alice Springs is struggling a bit, I don't know what that means for the remote communities. I worry about that," she said.
