National

Race to save woman clinging to tree in floodwaters

Feb 12, 2026

Police in floodwaters — One woman was rescued after being swept off a bridge, as emergency crews race to save another. -PR HANDOUT

Rescue efforts are underway to save a woman clinging to a tree in floodwaters in an outback town after another woman was plucked to safety.

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The pair were swept into the swollen Todd River in Alice Springs early on Thursday after overnight storms caused flooding and a warning for residents to shelter indoors.

The usually dry river has overflowed its banks to flood low-lying roads and close all causeways across the riverbed.

Northern Territory Police said officers were responding to multiple flood-related incidents across Alice following the rapid rise in water levels.

Around 3am on Thursday police received reports of a woman being washed off Stephens Road Bridge.

Officers attended to find two women in the water downstream, with one immediately rescued.

A rescue operation for the second woman was ongoing as she clung to a tree, with waters receding.

"They've got eyes on her, it's just a matter of getting her out of the water now," a police spokesperson told AAP.

Police, the NT Fire and Rescue Service and NT Emergency Service have responded to people being stranded in floodwaters, vehicles becoming stuck, and reports of flooding of homes.

An emergency flood warning for Alice was issued by the NT Emergency Service early on Thursday saying homes could become isolated by floodwaters which could cause damage to properties.

Residents were warned it was too dangerous to travel and they should shelter indoors until the all-clear was given by authorities.

Early on Thursday the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for the Barkly, Simpson, Lasseter and Tanami districts including Alice Springs.

The heavy rain across Central Australia has closed many roads and isolated many remote communities.

Around 300 people from Daly River, about 220km southwest of Darwin, are being housed at a pavilion at the Darwin Showgrounds waiting for floodwaters to recede.

Incident controller Gavin Kennedy said on Wednesday a number of Daly River homes were now ankle deep in floodwater and it could be many days before it was declared safe for residents to return.

He said it was not expected that water, electricity and the sewerage system would need to be switched off but the town's roads and airstrip were almost completely underwater.