‘They’ve been texting us for food’: remote communities left ‘abandoned’ in Kimberley flood response

Towns and communities hit by devastating flood waters in the Kimberley say they have been left to fend for themselves and have criticised communication strategies that do not account for language barriers.

Jasmine Bedford was born and raised in the Western Australian town of Fitzroy Crossing, which is at the centre of a one-in-100-year flood. She said the response from authorities has been "appalling" and tensions were building, as some people have "lost everything".

"A lot of people are walking around town frustrated and angry, they've been texting us for food," Bedford said. "Myself and a lot of families have been providing food [for them] with what we have left in the cupboards and have been able to salvage."

Another local, Kamus Green, said family and friends were worried they would run out of food and other essentials, with supplies dwindling. One community was told food drops were still 24 to 48 hours away.

"Now the power has been cut off to them as well - they haven't had any explanation and people are saying they have very little food and that is a huge concern," Green said.

Bedford said the community was taking it upon themselves to deliver food and take their own boats out to assist in the search and rescue of people and animals stranded in the flood waters.

"We ourselves used our own boat to go out and rescue people, the community has been rallying around each," she said. "We've been talking to people and they have been waiting a day or two to get rescued.

"Everyone who has a boat has been getting out there and helping people get to higher ground."

Others are opening their homes to those who evacuated from surrounding low-lying remote communities. About 1,500 people are in the official evacuation centre, many more are with relatives.

"One house I know in town right now has about 40 people in it," Bedford said. "That's in a three bedroom house - they are bunking in, they're creating informal evacuation centres.

"There's already overcrowding in their homes but family members don't want to crowd the evacuation centre so then they are coming in, and now they are asking me and saying, 'we need to get more food'. And they've got nothing."

The flooding has wreaked havoc in the remote town. The Fitzroy River peaked at 15.75 metres, about 1.8 metres above the previous record.

Bedford said the lack of communication from emergency services and government agencies was particularly worrying for those in remote communities, many of which have had road access cut.

"We've been told communities could be cut off for seven to 10 days at least," she said. "Fitzroy is a service town for these communities - food, fuel, everything - they have been just cut off, the bridge is under water.

Another resident, who asked not be named because they are employed by the government, said families were worried about how to get food to relatives who stayed in communities.

"It's not clear where the hampers or packages are going to or how much there is to go around," she said.

"They have to get a setup that doesn't create confusion or mixed messages.

"The elders and the town members are saying there needs to be more central communication where everyone is all on the same page."

Geoff Davis, longtime Fitzroy Crossing resident and shire counsellor, said he had never seen a flood this big.

"The river is in some places is so rough that you can't actually get there," he said. "It's too dangerous, too many trees and debris flowing down, there's dead animals - thousands of dead animals - floating down the river.

Davis said there was a huge need for support in the town, and the emergency services response, so far, had been significant. "It's a bit like a war zone, there's helicopters everywhere," he said.

But he agreed that anger and frustration was rising as a result of poor communication and some ill-preparedness on behalf of first responders who do not know the area.

"We're relying on information and knowledge from people who are remote. You'll get a limited reading of the bridge that says it's 15.7 or whatever it is now, but it might be 15.9 over this side of the river because the water comes from a different direction," he said.

"That 200 mils of water might be the difference between life and death."

Bedford urged response agencies to work with local Aboriginal groups to ensure vital information reaches those most vulnerable. Many Aboriginal people in the Kimberley speak English as a second or third language.

"There are language barriers - we are a majority Indigenous community and I had a lot of people coming to me saying 'what did he say?' 'what does that mean?'," she said. "We need a local approach, we want local coordination. A lot of the decision-making is taking place from Perth."

That approach should be implemented in communities downstream of Fitzroy Crossing, who are now bracing for the flood, she said.

The community is not just chipping in to save each other, or their homes. On Thursday rescuers saved the Ngurrara Canvas II, an 8x10-metre painting completed by the Ngurrara people to argue their successful 1996 native title claim.

Andrea Myers was among eight people who helped carry the huge canvas through flood waters after one resident realised it had started to get damp.