Oodnadatta residents in South Australia's outback say food is running out, and they have been forgotten as supplies are sent to other flood-affected towns.
Oodnadatta Pink Roadhouse owner Peter Moore took it upon himself to fly to Coober Pedy in his light plane to secure supplies for the town.
"We've got a community of 130 people, and we're trying to service them as best we can, but you land the plane, and the goods are gone before you even get back into the Pink Roadhouse," he said.
Mr Moore said there was nowhere else for anyone in Oodnadatta to get supplies, and the town was "an island" relying on the roadhouse.
"There is no way you can get in or out of Oodnadatta, only by air, because the roads … are totally impassable in north, south, east and west — so we are totally isolated," he said.
Although the state government dropped food and supplies to Coober Pedy earlier in the week, Mr Moore said he was unable to fill any of his orders.
"We get over there, and we put an order in of about 200 kilograms of stuff, and they delivered out to the airport not even 30kg because they did not have the stock."
Oodnadatta quite often 'forgotten'
Oodnadatta resident Scott Allen said the supplies flown in by Mr Moore could not meet the demand.
"Once the stock hits the ground here, it's gone, sort of instantly," Mr Allen said.
"I sort of get in there as soon as I hear his plane land, and get what I can and try not to be too greedy, but definitely fresh-produce-wise, it's gone in a day."
Mr Allen said it was not financially viable for the pub owner to keep flying "backwards and forwards all the time to Coober Pedy".
"If they [the government] can fly to Coober Pedy, which is only 200km south of here, I'm sure they can fly at least one decent load of gear up here for us," he said.
He said Oodnadatta was used to being overlooked.
Mr Moore said he also noticed a significant amount of insects and wildlife since the rain, another issue brought on by the flooding.
"Mosquitoes, flies, people are getting snakes in their houses, which is not normal because the snakes are being flushed out of their normal habitat," he said.
Floods can bring malnutrition, diseases
Kimberley Humphrey, the chair of the South Australian Committee of Doctors for the Environment Australia, said outback floods could have major health consequences.
Health effects included malnutrition brought on by poor food security, mosquito-borne diseases, as well as lack of access to clean water.
"Chronic disease can arise through lack of access to fresh food and fresh drinking water," Dr Humphrey said.
"Food insecurity isn't something that is usually thought about in metropolitan Australia, but it is most of the time a problem in our regional and remote communities, and disasters just like this one exacerbate that."
Dr Humphrey said transport frequently became the main cause of food inequality in a disaster.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Premier said SA Police and other emergency services were monitoring the situation.
"The State Emergency Service is in contact with Coober Pedy and Oodnadatta to determine essential community food supplies and what is required to support them," the spokeswoman said.
