The evacuation of flood-ravaged communities in the Northern Territory is expected to be completed by tonight as authorities assess the scale of damage to housing and infrastructure.
Almost 600 people have been airlifted from Kalkarindji, Daguragu and Pigeon Hole since the communities were inundated on Wednesday.
About 290 evacuees, including 90 children, are sheltering at the Centre for National Resilience at Howard Springs on the outskirts of Darwin.
Rapid assessment teams have been dispatched to Victoria Daly region, south-west of Darwin, but authorities are yet to outline how many properties have been affected.
"There's going to be a hell of a lot of clean-up to do and understanding that these poor people, many of them have lost all of their possessions, all the things that they have because it has been a significant flooding event," Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison said.
While residents in the worst-affected communities will likely have to stay at Howard Springs for some time, Ms Manison said the outlook was better for residents of Kalkarindji, where floodwaters have receded below the minor level.
"We're hoping that some of the evacuees from Kalkarindji can head home early next week if their houses have not been so impacted by the flooding," Ms Manison said.
"However, we are expecting that it's going to be a bit more time for the people of Daguragu and Pigeon Hole due to the amount of flooding that has gone through those communities."
Authorities warn of more flooding
Northern Regional Controller Danny Bacon warned that flooding was possible in other parts of the NT over the coming days.
He said this was likely to make the Victoria Highway impassable at the Victoria River Roadhouse over the weekend.
"We don't know how long the highway will be closed, but it may be for a couple of days," he said.
He said there was no need at this stage to evacuate other communities, including Yarralin, where some concerns had been raised about not being relocated.
"The decision to evacuate a community is not taken lightly, and certainly the only time you evacuate communities is when the services within the community become inundated or unserviceable," he said.
"Yarralin community at the moment is isolated [but] it's not going to receive any inundation at all of any water.
"None of the forecasting indicates that whatsoever.
"It has a good level of critical goods [and] fuel to maintain the community in Yarralin."
The Bureau of Meteorology said the tropical low, which is currently in the Barkly district, is likely to shift close to the Gulf of Carpentaria by Sunday.
"There is currently a low-to-moderate chance that the system will intensify to cyclone strength at some point early next week," bureau spokeswoman Jude Scott said.
The bureau will release further updates over the coming days.
