House in back left of image under water, halfway up its front porch, flood waters, small green trees in foreground.Flood-affected residents from Kakadu have not been able to access financial support from the government, despite the recent flood. (Supplied: Andy Ralph)

Kakadu residents whose homes have been submerged by roof-high floodwater said they feel like they’ve been forgotten, with evacuation centres and relief payments not made available to them.

Patonga Homestead, located 300 kilometres west of Darwin, was inundated on Monday as ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle moved across the NT.

Jessica Vigona’s family have lived in her grandmother’s home on the remote Aboriginal outstation for more than 60 years.

An Indigenous woman, tanned, black hair, looking down at screen, red singlet on, neutral expression.

Jessica Vigona evacuated ahead of Monday’s wet weather, but members of her family were later forced to flee as floodwaters began to inundate the home.

“That’s where all our memories are,” she said.

“Generations and generations all grew up in that place and now it’s all gone.

“It’s pretty upsetting and devastating.”

In the days prior to the cyclone hitting the NT, Ms Vigona evacuated to the Jim Jim Falls Ranger Station with her three children and elderly grandmother.

But she said the property rarely flooded and other members of her extended family became stranded, unaware of just “how bad” the wet weather situation would become.

Floods isolate outstations

Ms Vigona said the group of her extended family members were isolated by rapidly-rising floodwater and, as it inundated the homestead, decided to try walking to the main road in search of help.

A short time later, a ranger bundled about 20 members of the community — including six children under the age of seven — into a boat and moved them to safety.

“It [took] a long time and it was very, very emotional seeing all the family [onboard],” Ms Vigona recalled.

Hazy image of backyard area, with flood waters reaching shed, and surrounds, grass beneath water visible.

Flooding has been occurring across the Top End this month, inundating Kakadu homes earlier this week. (Supplied: Andy Ralph)

She said it was the first time the region had experienced severe flooding in 19 years.

Fellow Kakadu resident Andy Ralph believes Patonga Homestead was one of five local outstations affected by the rare weather event.

He estimated up to 45 people were either displaced or isolated, with no evacuation centre in the area and limited access to food.

“We’re seeing floodwater in areas we have not seen in Kakadu for many, many years,”

he said.

“Fishermen are launching boats five kilometres away from the boat ramp, near the bridge on the Arnhem Highway.”

Man standing on red dirt, edge of water expanding well into distance behind him, trees appear in background

Andy Ralph wants the NT and federal government to provide financial support to those impacted by flooding at Kakadu. (Supplied)

On Thursday, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said the federal and NT governments had been working together to support flood victims, including assessing “concerns around food security”.

Calls to support Kakadu with disaster relief

Mr Ralph said local flood victims felt like they had been forgotten as they waited for more information about relief payments.

“We’re just imploring the NT government to please recognise the Kakadu situation just like their Katherine cousins — they need your support,” he urged.

“[Many have] no food, no clothes, no money and its putting pressure on the Jim Jim Ranger Station.

“We need help from the [NT government] and the federal government to help these people get their lives back on track.”

On Monday and closer to Darwin, the Coomalie local government area became eligible for relief funding when the same weather system inundated homes in the small town of Adelaide River.

Flood waters winding live a river around trees, with housing to left of image, gray sky, gray flood waters.

Locals say flooding reached the roof at Patonga Homestead on Monday. (Supplied: Andy Ralph)

In addition to calls for the payments to be expanded and include Kakadu, Ms Vigona also asked for long-term support to prevent her community from going under again.

“All we’re asking is some [financial support] for the houses to be rebuilt and [raised up] higher,” she said.

“We’ve been asking for a lot of funding but, within the years that we asked, we never got any feedback.”

In a statement to the ABC, the NT government said authorities were in contact with Cooinda Lodge to ensure there were “adequate provisions” established “for those who self-relocated from the homeland communities”.

Tents and a welcome sign at an accommodation facility in a national park.

Cooinda Lodge is popular accommodation spot for tourists visiting Kakadu in the dry season, but provisions have recently been made for flood victims to use the facility. (ABC News: Gemma Ferguson)

“The road to Jabiru was cleared [on Thursday morning] and those people residing at Cooinda, Patonga and Jim Jim Ranger Station are now able to access services in Jabiru,” the statement said.

It said that the Australian and Northern Territory governments provide financial assistance to support people impacted by disasters under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), and that West Arnhem Regional Council was eligible for “removal of debris, personal and financial counselling, counter disaster operations, and reconstruction of essential public assets”.

However, according to Services Australia people in that local government area remain ineligible for one-off personal immediate disaster recovery payments from the federal government which have been made available to other communities including Katherine, Daly River and Palumpa.