Aboriginal community still damaged, without key services months after floods

At the end of a dust-laden road on the banks of the Daly River, the remote Indigenous community of Nauiyu bears the scars of disaster.The entrance road is marred by large potholes eating into speed bumps, while mounds of silt line the outskirts of town.Potholes can still be seen around Nauiyu / Daly River after the remote NT community flooded earlier this year. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)It has been three months since residents of Nauiyu, also known as Daly River, returned home after back-to-back record floods in February and March forced them to evacuate.Outside his house at the end of town, life-long Nauiyu resident James Parry can point to the exact step the floodwaters rose to."It covered 15 stairs — the whole bottom half of the house," he said.James Parry says his family were lucky because they could move some of their belongings to the second-floor of their home. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)"The tables were flipped over, the couches were flipped, my bed, my freezer."He said he was one of the luckier members of the community, as he and his family were able to move some of their belongings upstairs."Everybody else lost everything — cars, homes, the lot," he said.James Parry says so many Nauiyu residents lost everything in the floods. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)Mr Parry said the 2026 floods were the worst he has ever seen and there is mounting frustration that key services in the community were not yet fully online."The aged care centre is full of asbestos, and we only have a few old people left," he said."Kids are not turning up to school since they got back; the teachers have to go around door-to-door to get these kids to come to school."James Parry showed the ABC areas still damaged by flooding in Nauiyu / Daly River earlier this year. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)He also said various repair works have not been done well, noting large gaps beneath doors leading to dust travelling inside and glass windows replaced with plastic."Some of those council homes had wooden benches, wooden drawers, wooden floors, they were all ripped out," he said.Of particular concern is the boil water alert still in place for the community.Ever since their return, residents' drinking water supply has come from pallets of bottled water packages routinely unloaded outside the Nauiyu general store."No one's told us anything," Mr Parry said.The only access to clean drinking water is from deliveries of pallets of bottled water to the town. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)'It doesn't feel like home'Nauiyu resident Kieren Karritpul said the damage had fundamentally changed the town."This place is not really 100 per cent," he said."It doesn't feel like home."As of the end of August, several residential buildings in the community were still without power, impacting living arrangements and preventing key workers from returning to the community.Kieren Karritpul is reviewing the damage to the Merrepen Arts Centre and its equipment in Nauiyu / Daly River. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)"My brother and my niece have been staying over at my house because their house still doesn't have power," Mr Karritpul said.On a shady street in the centre of the community, Merrepen Arts Centre, where Mr Karritpul works, stands dormant among mounds of dirt and damaged art materials.The centre, which employs more than 40 artists, is one of the buildings that has gone without power since the flood, depriving residents of a source of income and community.Kieren Karritpul says the art centre's closure has meant tourists have to travel to Darwin to purchase local artists' work. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)"Every now and then I get pulled up at the shop or clinic by people asking when it will open, or when they will get their canvases," he said."We have to tell [tourists] to go on the three-hour drive to Darwin if they want to buy things."Though empty and without power, Merrepen Arts Centre managers have still been issued a power and water bill covering "fixed daily charges" for the first half of 2026.Questions raised around flood response The sorry state of Nauiyu several months on from the floods has prompted questions about plans for remediation.After the last wet season, the Northern Territory government announced a $100 million flood recovery fund to repair damaged infrastructure and aid with flood mitigation.So far, only $12.5 million of the fund has been spent, with just $500,000 put toward Nauiyu in the form of a plan to relocate the town to higher ground.Labor MLA Dheran Young, who represents the Daly electorate in the Territory parliament, said it was disappointing the community had been left behind"The CLP government need to apply for the Commonwealth Disaster Relief Fund to ensure services can get back up and running," he said."To date, my understanding is that they haven't applied after the disaster relief fund under these extraordinary circumstances."In August, the Commonwealth made a million-dollar investment in Nauiyu through the National Indigenous Australians Agency."The scale of damage experienced by the community has been immense," Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said.Malarndirri McCarthy says the damage done to Nauiyu from flooding earlier this year has been significant. (ABC: Matt Roberts)"These investments will support community-led recovery efforts, helping to restore critical community facilities [and] strengthen local services."The funding package, primarily aimed at local Indigenous corporations, sought to restore essential services, assets and accommodation for key workers.The Northern Territory government did not respond to questions on Nauiyu or the recovery.Mr Parry said the community has been visited by engineers and other personnel planning the town's relocation, in accordance with the NT government's investment.He was frustrated, however, that there has not been more action ahead of the coming wet season.James Parry says he is frustrated that the NT government has not done more to prepare for the next wet season. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)"You got mango flowering now, you got tamarind, you got the cashew; those three things tell you that the rain's on the way here," he said.With the near future uncertain, he wants a solid commitment from governments that funding will flow through to key services, and a plan will be in place should flooding re-occur."They've got everything, they've got homes to go to," he said."We lost everything, we started from scratch."