A number of key transport routes in the Northern Territory, including its railway line, remain closed due to flooding, but authorities have said there are no major predicted impacts to food supply.
It comes as the Stuart Highway was re-opened this morning after being heavily flooded between Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, with still only one lane of traffic operating at Wycliffe Well.
However, the Barkly, Tablelands and Buntine Highways — as well as the Tanami Road — remain closed.
Northern Territory Road Transport chief executive Louise Bilato said freight coming to Darwin from Adelaide has been delayed "slightly" because of the Stuart Highway closure.
"Usually we have 40 or 50 truck movements every few days out of South Australia. Not as many been held up today because of the Christmas break, but certainly the freight schedule is 365 days of the year," she said.
"We also have seen some delays occurring because the rail is down at the moment too."
Earlier this year, stocks on supermarket shelves across the Northern Territory ran low after flooded roads impacted freight deliveries into the region.
Ms Bilato said this flooding event was unlikely to have as significant an impact.
"We can't predict where the rain is going to fall. But [the Stuart Highway] wasn't closed for very long. In February, it was closed for two weeks," she said.
"We're hoping that [with] the upgrades that the Northern Territory and South Australian governments have done, we'll see the Stuart Highway remain pretty resilient."
However, she said trucks travelling from the east coast and Western Australia will still be held up because of other road closures.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said at a press conference this afternoon that the government is not predicting any food shortages because of the flooding.
"If the railway can't get open, there [are] measures where they can offload containers and bring them across on the highway," she said.
"But we're hopeful that we'll see the railway be able to be used in the next 24 to 48 hours so there's no need to panic buy."
Flood evacuees moved to defence housing
Ms Fyles said a number of government employees had been sent to Timber Creek to assist with the flood recovery after two nearby communities had to be evacuated on Friday.
She said about 30 evacuees had been moved to defence accommodation at the nearby Bradshaw Field Training Area.
It comes after the ABC reported on Monday that about 20 people were still sleeping on a basketball court in Timber Creek three days after their evacuation because the were unable to return home.
Acting Police Commissioner Murray Smalpage said assessment teams on the ground in Timber Creek were surveying the 11 flood damages homes.
"They'll make an assessment whether any of them are capable of rehabilitation," he said.
"If not, we can then plan around where we could through our welfare groups and others where we could accommodate those people."
He said the impacted communities still had no running water.
Emergency services 'better prepared' for more flooding
Acting Commissioner Smalpage said emergency services were "better prepared" to deal with potential further flooding in the Timber Creek region as the ex-tropical cyclone makes its way back over the same path in the coming days.
"We've got additional police members here today, we've got an impact assessment team on the ground," he said.
"We've also got emergency accommodation suitable for those appropriate locations on higher ground."
He said a "full debrief" would be conducted to "see what things we could have done better" in relation to the flooding response.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Sally Cutter said the low, which is currently south-east of Tennant Creek, is expected to move back into the Gregory region by Wednesday evening.
"Tomorrow we're looking at those rainfall totals of 30 to 80 millimetres, anywhere near the low in excess of 200 millimetres so we're still expecting a lot of rain to fall associated with that low," Ms Cutter said.
Ms Fyles said the flooding in Timber Creek was "unprecedented" because it occurred in an unusual location.
"But what we will face over the coming days is very sodden country ... and now we will see more amounts of rainfall and potentially flooding in the more traditional sense," she said.
She advised people to be careful on the roads and reconsider their need to travel in the coming days.
"Our resources are focused on caring for people in remote locations and isolated communities," she said.
"Of course, we will divert them to search for people and to care for people if they get into trouble. But we really don't want to have to do that."
