Alice Springs counts cost of torrential downpour, faces risk of mosquito-borne diseases
With more than 200mm of rain hitting some parts of Alice Springs since Wednesday, dozens of houses across Alice Springs have found themselves battling rising floodwater.
Environmental health officers have also begun preparing for a spike in the number of mosquitoes, warning of an increased risk of contracting a rare and potentially fatal mosquito-borne encephalitis virus.
Northern Territory Emergency Services (NTES) volunteers worked around the clock in Alice Springs as rain fell late last week and over the weekend.
NTES Duty Officer Ian Smith said volunteers have attended 75 jobs since Wednesday with most of the calls coming through on Friday night.
“The majority of jobs were water backed up in the drains and then flowing into people’s premises,” he said.
“We had sandbags across people’s doors and occasionally [we] would have diversions put into place just to stop the flow.”
On Friday night, Hartley Street in the Alice Springs CBD was awash with water.
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