Many cattle stations across the Top End and Barkly regions are experiencing one of their best wet seasons in years, but the rain has come too heavy and fast for some.
Heavy rainfall from a tropical low forced the evacuation of more than 700 people from the communities of Kalkarindji, Dagaragu and Pigeon Hole, south west of Katherine.
Floodwaters also cut road access to the town of Timber Creek and surrounding communities cut to the east and west.
But for cattle stations, the rain has — for the most part — been a blessing.
Alexandria Station on the NT-Queensland border has recorded more than 400 millimetres of rain so far this month, with 262mm falling in one 24-hour period.
Despite widespread flooding across the property and some minor damage to infrastructure, station manager David Thornberry said the rains had been great for the property.
"All the river systems have well and truly broken their banks," he said.
He said flooding would delay the station's mustering program but was "setting it up to be a hell of a season".
"When you get seasons like this, it just replenishes the whole system and rebuilds what you've lost during the drought years," he said.
More than 300mm fell at Alexandria's outstation, Gallipoli, in the last 48 hours, sending floodwaters through a number of buildings.
Manager Taylor Hobbs said the floodwater was starting to recede after a "scary" night where water rose quickly.
"We are trying evacuating a couple of people, so we don't have as many people here … it's just trying to find somewhere [for a helicopter] to land will be the hard part," she said.
"This [wet season] has blown all records out of the water."
Cattle stations in the Barkly and Gulf of Carpentaria are closely watching the movement and rainfall expected from the tropical low in Queensland's north west, which is forecast to slowly move south from Friday.
Many locations have already well surpassed their average wet season rainfall, with several weeks of the official wet season to come.
Tennant Creek has received over 500mm more than its long-term average, while Daly Waters, Victoria River Downs and Timber Creek have all exceeded their average wet season falls.
'Sea of green'
On the famous Barkly stock route, AACo's Anthony Lagoon Station recorded more than 200mm for the week with "nice steady rain", according to manager Mary Vaughan.
"It's a sea of green everywhere you look," she said.
"Creeks that haven't run for five or six years here are running full.
"We haven't seen a season like this for a very long time, so we'll be having some mud-fat cattle rolling around the place and some really fat, happy cattle.
"We've seen a different sort of picture in last couple of years, so rolling mud-fat cattle is what you want to see."
In the Gulf of Carpentaria, the McArthur River flooded near the town of Borroloola, cutting off the small community on the eastern side of the river.
Timber Creek isolated
The town of Timber Creek has been cut off for days, after the Victoria River flooded 2 metres above the 19m-high bridge at Victoria River Crossing.
Jack Horgan works for the Ngaliwurru-Wuli Aboriginal Corporation, assisting small Indigenous communities in the region.
He said the town and communities were reasonably well supplied with food and were not expecting access to Katherine for some days to come.
"While the [flooding] at Victoria River Crossing may be below the level of the deck in coming days … that doesn't mean the Victoria Highway will reopen," Mr Horgan said.
"About three kilometres out from that bridge to Timber Creek there has been a major subsidence of the road."
