PRIME MINISTER Anthony Albanese and Premier Mark McGowan have spent the morning in the flood zone in Western Australia's Kimberley region, talking to affected residents and thanking emergency workers and Australian Defence Force personnel who have been delivering urgently-needed food and supplies since last Thursday.
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Describing a devastating situation on the ground, Mr Albanese said it was a miracle that no-one had lost their lives in what is WA's worst ever flood.
"What is extraordinary is that there isn't a greater human cost," Mr Albanese said.
"You can rebuild roads, you can rebuild houses, you can't of course rebuild lives.
"It is quite extraordinary that there has not been a more extreme human outcome as well."
Mr Albanese and Mr McGowan joined Emergency Service and Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, State Emergency Service Minister Stephen Dawson, Indigenous leaders and other State and federal MPs on the visit to Fitzroy Crossing.
Mr Albanese said fixing the roads into town and checking flood damaged homes, so residents could return as quickly as possible, would be immediate priorities.
Though the flood waters are receding, pastoralists will face huge challenges tending to cattle and assessing property damage.
GoGo Station manager Chris Towne said along with the potential stock losses, replacing damaged fences was going to be a long and expensive process.
"Anywhere along the river we've lost a fair portion of fencing but I'm not exactly sure how much - we've got plenty of work for anyone who has some spare time," Mr Towne said.
It was announced today by the McGowan and Albanese Government that there will be freight subsidies for farmers to transport fodder, due to the increased travel distances with road closures.
Mr Watt said the assessment of livestock losses will take some time and they were likely to be "extensive,'' but at this point in time it was too early to predict a figure.
More than 282 people have been evacuated from around the region since unprecedented floods struck the Fitzroy River basin last week, with the river peaking on Thursday at 15.81 metres.
Fitzroy Crossing has been inundated and the regional centres of Derby and Broome were cut off last week.
At today's meeting local residents and community members, including pastoralists and Indigenous leaders, raised concerns with the Prime Minister and Premier regarding arrangements for repatriation, vehicle repair and access to funding and service support.
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Federal Emergency Service and Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said officers would be available in the region to help locals apply for government emergency payments.
As of today, locals will be able to access a disaster recovery allowance - a 13 week payment on the Job Seeker rate.
It is estimated that there will be payments of $200 per person or $800 per household.
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There will also be $10,000 available per household for flood related repairs, along with further funding to be announced in the coming weeks.
Mr Albanese said the event had been "very traumatic'' for the region and that some people had "lost everything'' and he said counselling and mental health support would be made available.
He assured residents today that there will be continued emergency financial assistance and emergency support to repair the 100 damaged homes for the "coming weeks, months and potentially beyond".
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