Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is promising "significant" emergency assistance relief for those impacted by Western Australia's worst-ever floods ahead of a tour of the state's soaked Kimberley region.
Mr Albanese touched down in Broome overnight, while WA Premier Mark McGowan arrived this morning.
The two leaders have flown to Fitzroy Crossing, travelling across part of the country that has become a virtual inland ocean as vast amounts of floodwaters have poured down the enormous Fitzroy River catchment.
Fitzroy Crossing has been completely cut off by the floods and suffered major damage to homes and infrastructure.
Images taken from a helicopter showed a bridge carrying the only sealed highway into the region almost completely destroyed.
The town has also become a refuge for people from surrounding communities who fled as floodwaters rose to record levels.
Mr Albanese and Mr McGowan visited the evacuation centre in the town and toured damaged areas.
They met with locals and evacuees from surrounding communities, who voiced their ongoing concerns about infrastructure damage and the future of their homes.
Mr Albanese said it was useful to hear about practical issues the government could help address.
"We've seen the devastating impact of a one in 100 year flood," he said.
"We've seen people and spoken to people who've lost their homes, who've lost their livelihoods and are doing [it] really tough, but they're resilient.
"They're determined to build back in this community, and they've been putting forward the practical issues that they want solved over the coming days and weeks and months."
He said while access to the town was a major issue for freight networks and supply chains, the most immediate priority was getting people displaced by the floods into safe housing.
WA Premier Mark McGowan echoed the prime minister.
"Certainly, the infrastructure, the roads, and the bridges … are badly damaged, and that's going to take some time to fix in terms of the town itself," he said.
"I think the damage is largely inside the homes, so getting those surveyed, making sure that we get them repaired over time and getting power and water back on as soon as we can, is a priority."
A majority of homes in Fitzroy Crossing are owned by the WA state government.
The leaders are set to return to Broome this afternoon, where they will meet volunteers and frontline emergency service workers, who have been the linchpin of the evacuation and resupply operation, and thank them for their ongoing efforts.
'Massive' infrastructure rebuild
Mr Albanese earlier told Radio 6PR he would announce a "significant" emergency assistance package today, including a $10,000 grant for housing repairs and up to $10,000 to replace central household items.
He said the biggest challenge would be repairing the heavily damaged infrastructure, especially in remote communities.
"Quite clearly there's going to be massive infrastructure investment required," he told 6PR radio.
"It's too early, but we know that the bill will be substantial, and my government is committed to providing whatever support that we can in partnership with the WA government.
"There'll also be required support for individuals and that support needs to be not just financial, of course, but we need to bear in mind the need for counselling and support as well.
"People will be devastated by the experience that they've gone through in recent days."
Mr Albanese said destructive weather events like former tropical cyclone Ellie were occurring too often.
"I'm afraid I've now been to Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, now WA in the relatively short time that I've been prime minister," he said.
Pastoralists brace for pain
Pastoralists are also continuing to count the toll of the floods on livestock and transport routes.
Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association chairman Jak Andrews said it would be months before stations would know of the full impact.
"It's almost a case of collecting what's remaining and counting those, and then trying to work out what's missing," he said.
"When water of this volume runs through a building [or] fencing, there'll be thousands of kilometres of fencing that I imagine won't be standing anymore."
Mr Andrews said pastoralists were grateful to the premier and prime minister for attending the scene, and hoped seeing the damage firsthand would prompt a quick response.
"What we will look for from those that are visiting and those in power is some funding models, but also some really stringent coordination and quite a nimble approach in getting these operations back up and functioning," he said.
The flooding has started to recede in Fitzroy Crossing but is still reaching peak levels downstream.
'We've lost everything'
Shelley Johnston's husband Warren manages the Camballin Caravan Park, which provides revenue for nearby Looma community.
Ms Johnston, who is Looma's chief financial officer, said aerial footage showed the tourism business completely inundated.
"We've lost everything. Everything is underwater. We knew it was coming but there was nothing anyone could do," Shelley Johnston said.
"Last tourism season was a boomer and now we're back to square one."
She said residents have told them that the floodwaters left few homes untouched.
"I think there's 32 houses in Camballin and there's four that didn't get damaged," Ms Johnston said.
