Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Western Australia to visit the remote Kimberley region and view the devastation caused by record flooding.

Recovery efforts have begun in the desert town of Fitzroy Crossing which has borne the brunt of floodwaters now heading west.

Hundreds of residents who fled the region are still waiting to return home.

Plane loads of food and supplies are being flown in to the cut-off town as damage assessment teams look to quickly give people the green light to come home.

The prime minister’s office announced late on Sunday that he was in WA to visit the flood-affected communities alongside Premier Mark McGowan, Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt and WA Senator Pat Dodson.

The prime minister and the WA premier are expected to announce on Monday a joint arrangement for disaster recovery funding for flood-hit communities.

President of the Derby and West Kimberley Shire Geoff Haerewa said emergency services and volunteer organisations were working hard to get food, clothes and other resources to Fitzroy Crossing.

“We’re starting to get on top of the situation,” he told ABC radio.

But he said hundreds of evacuees were crowded into makeshift evacuation facilities such as community halls.

“There’s no air conditioning, and we don’t have the toilet facilities and the kitchen facilities to deal with a crisis of this size and magnitude,” he said.

Mr Haerewa called for government funding for fit-for-purpose evacuation centres and flood-resilient roads and infrastructure to protect communities from future disasters.

Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley also said the government needed to focus on rebuilding communities in the aftermath of floods and other natural disasters.

“The government does need to stay the course across Australia when it comes to rebuilding after the floods,” she said.

Several other Kimberley communities are expecting flood peaks by the end of Monday from conditions that have caused the Fitzroy River, which cuts across the region, to swell as wide as 50km in some parts.

Concerns the Northern Territory would face more flooding eased on Sunday as former tropical cyclone Ellie subsided.

Earlier severe weather warnings for remote communities in the Simpson, Lasseter and Tanami districts were cancelled by authorities on Sunday morning.

The region had been bracing for impact as Ellie moved back into the NT after wreaking havoc in Western Australia.

Queensland’s north and west were preparing for severe thunderstorms and heavy rain on Sunday which were expected to last into Monday in some parts.

In NSW’s far west, the already inundated town of Menindee was still bracing for the Darling River to hit a flood peak on Sunday.

The river could rise to more than 10.7 metres in the coming days, which is higher than the 1976 record.

-AAP

The post WA flood recovery begins as Anthony Albanese touches down appeared first on The New Daily.