The Australian and Western Australian governments have made disaster assistance available to help communities in the Shires of Upper Gascoyne and Murchison recover from damage caused by heavy rainfall and flooding in May 2021.
Federal Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie, said assistance would be provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
"Flooding in the Gascoyne and Murchison regions on 29 and 30 May 2021 damaged local roads and isolated several remote communities and it's vital that governments step in to help these communities get back on their feet as quickly as possible," Minister McKenzie said.
"Our joint disaster recovery funding will assist the local governments with the cost of repairs to local road networks that are particularly vital in remote areas of Australia, given alternative routes are not always available."
Western Australian Minister for Emergency Services Reece Whitby said the two local government areas had been inundated with rainfall with totals of between 40 and 60 millimetres recorded over a 48-hour period.
"This heavy rainfall caused flooding in the Gascoyne River which put lives at risk and restricted access to food and essential supplies," Minister Whitby said.
"The Shires of Murchison and Upper Gascoyne assisted with the delivery of fuel and essential supplies to a number of isolated people while their movement was limited and I commend them for providing this on-the-ground support."
Information on disaster assistance is available on the Australian Government's Disaster Assist website at disasterassist.gov.au.
