Some travellers have apparently been stranded in remote areas as heavy rain has forced the closure of a number of roads and tracks in South Australia’s far north.
The Birdsville, Oodnadatta and Strzelecki tracks are among roads that have now been closed since parts of the Flinders Ranges and Outback recorded rainfall of between 100 and 200 millimetres since Friday.
Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan told the ABC that conditions on some of the roads remained dangerous.
“People who are looking to cross over creeks or floodways should check the latest advice to make sure that it’s safe to do so,” he said. “The last thing that we want is people to be stranded or get into further trouble trying to move around or between these communities.”
William Creek pilot Trevor Wright has called on the State Government to send out officials to check on the safety of any travellers who might be stranded.
“I think overseas tourists have heard about how hot it becomes, with dust storms etc, but to have the complete reverse of that happening now would have been a shock to them,” Mr Wright told the ABC. “I think a lot of these overseas tourists have no idea what it’s like to be stuck out for a week or more without any infrastructure or civilisation.
Mr Wright said he knew of at least one traveller who was stuck about 40 kilometres out of Oodnadatta.
“At what stage do they start to worry and take decisions into their own hands and start walking?” he asked.
Water is covering a large swathe of Lake Eyre for the first time in several years.
When bad weather stops us we just hole up an sit it out – fully self contained – 14 days water & food & toilet, Mobile phone/Sat phone. Any where that’s flat and above flood water level by more than 50cm will do. Do it in a Motorhome mate!