Saturated NT braces for Tropical Cyclone Narelle to dump another 300mm of rain

Katherine has already experienced one of the worst floods in decades. Now patients have been evacuated from the hospital as Narelle bears down Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The air was dry for the first time in months on Saturday, a perverse trick as moisture is drawn into another storm system bearing down on the Northern Territory. Tropical Cyclone Narrelle is the seventh high-risk weather event to hit Australia’s north in just five months. “This is Country and water talking to us, letting us know that we’ve gone too far,” says evacuee and Mangarayi traditional owner Cilia Lake. “This is our ancestors … punishing all of us for what’s happening all around the Northern Territory. The land clearances, the gas pipelines and the taking of water. It is all connected.” Narrelle, which was downgraded before midday on Sunday NT time to an ex-tropical cyclone, is expected to dump up to 300mm of rain across the already saturated Top End, after a wet season that’s seen thousands evacuated since the new year. Flood warnings are in place across much of the Territory. Patients have been evacuated from Katherine