Residents in the flood-stricken outback town of Oodnadatta are calling on Premier Steven Marshall to send in urgent supplies of food, saying they feel "neglected."
On Tuesday, the Premier announced a Federal and State Government disaster assistance effort for 14 affected local government areas in South Australia. One area was Coober Pedy, which is three hours south-east of Oodnadatta.
But roads are damaged and many locals do not have the ability to travel there to buy food and supplies. NITV News understands the Oodnadatta Track that goes to Marla is set to reopen, but that means a 900 kilometre round trip for residents that do have transport.
Pitjantjatjara woman and Oodnadatta resident Carmen Amos told NITV News that there wasn't enough food for the women and children, and called on Premier Marshall to take urgent action to remedy the circumstances.
“He needs to send a plane out here with a lot of food to help us out here because we in a remote area… we cannot go in and come back in,” said Ms Amos.
“There is not enough salad stuff, lettuce and veggies, so we need help with that.
Ms Amos also said a lot of mothers with small children were upset because the community had also run out of nappies for their babies.
On Monday Premier Marshall emphasised the measures taken by the state's emergency response teams, which were to restock supplies at Coober Pedy.
Mother and local Local Pitjantjatjara woman, Carmen Amos told NITV News that mothers were upset because they couldn't get what they needed for their babies. Source: NITV News.
"Oodnadatta wasn't cut off from Coober Pedy ... people could still go down and that's the hub for supplies," he said.
“It hasn't been ideal, but it's been a very difficult situation with the floodwaters and I think the SES has handled it particularly well.”
Since the floods first hit around the 20th of January, locals have had to rely on the town’s only shop, the Pink Roadhouse.
Jen Mathews says the only way to get food at the moment is if she and her husband fly out in their personal plane, which she says isn't viable for everyone. Source: NITV News.
Co-owners, Jan Mathews and her husband Peter, have had to fly supplies in and out of town with their personal plane.
However, Ms Mathews said the constant trips to get supplies were not viable, with 130 people, including six surrounding stations to feed.
“The government just said that the shelves are full down there and we can go and get it… but we can't,” said Ms Matthews.
“Our roads are still closed and impassable, so there's no way we can get it unless they do it by plane.
"Nobody has come near us, nobody has bothered about us.
'We feel neglected, we feel forgotten, we've got people here with foster children and nobody has checked on them to see if whether they've got enough food and if the kids are ok and getting fed... it's like nobody cares."
Despite the military flying in more than 20 tonnes of supplies to Coober Pedy last week, locals in Oodnadatta say they were unable to get to there.
A local Oodnadatta police officer stands on the damaged road in-between Coober Pedy and Oodnadatta, which remain cut-off. Source: Peta Doherty (SBS News).
On Monday, the Royal Flying Doctor Service scheduled a special detour to Oodnadatta to deliver critical supplies.
Local police sergeant, Zaheer McKenzie said the 250 kilograms of fresh food was “life-saving”.
“We’ll be out of fresh food for another week or two, with the road conditions as they are at the moment and to have this service that the Flying Doctors has done today is magnificent,” he said.
“It’s going to really help the community with their stress levels over the last couple of weeks with the rain we’ve had.”
Local Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Anangu, Brett Robinson believes the extreme weather event was a strong spiritual message. Source: NITV News.
Spiritual message
Local Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Anangu, Brett Robinson believes the extreme weather event had a strong spiritual meaning.
On the night the rain started, he said he saw something in the sky.
“I could see in the cloud-front, just the giant snake coming down from the Tanami, through to Alice Springs all the way down to here…then I walked outside and I looked up at the sky…and there were clouds everywhere, but all the clouds looked like snake scales…the belly scales of a snake,” said Mr Robinson.
“I believe it was the Rainbow Serpent.
“I’m not sure but I believe that climate change has a lot to do with it, I think the snake is angry about the climate change… that Anangu… the Traditional Custodians aren’t able to properly care for the land anymore, and I think that, that might be making the snake angry.
However, through the storm, Mr Robinson said he was pleased to see what is some of the driest landscapes in Australia, turn into a vibrant green outback.
A picture taken from an aircraft showing the green country side after the heavy rainfall. Source: Douglas Smith (NITV News)
Government assistance for 14 areas
The Local Government Areas announced by Premier Marshall on Tuesday as eligible for assistance include Cleve, Coober Pedy, Elliston, Flinders Ranges, Franklin Harbour, Grant, Kimba, Lower Eyre Peninsula, Pastoral Unincorporated Land, Port Augusta, Roxby Downs, Streaky Bay, Tumby Bay and Whyalla.
Mr Marshall said the State and Federal Governments were doing everything they could to help affected communities.
“No stone has been left unturned in our efforts to help our regional communities who have been dealt a fierce blow with many extreme weather fronts over the last few weeks," he said.
“The South Australian State Emergency Service has received over 840 requests for assistance related to the unprecedented weather event a few weeks ago, which has caused enormous damage to our communities."
