Three months after the remote Northern Territory community of Pigeon Hole was severely flooded, residents are still living in tents and have no clear idea about when they will be able to return home.
Nitjpurru — or Pigeon Hole – was one of three communities, including Kalkarindji and Daguragu, that were inundated by floodwaters that wiped out homes and infrastructure in early March.
Residents were first evacuated to Darwin's Howard Springs before being moved to a pop-up tent city, run by the Northern Territory government at Yarralin, 100 kilometres from their home.
Elmore Anzac, a Nitjpurru traditional owner and one of about 70 displaced residents living in the 22 tents, said it was difficult being away from home for so long.
"It's been pretty hard … we miss it lots," he said.
"We don't know how long we are looking at — maybe after July, maybe end of July."
Mr Anzac said he had heard residents' return home date depended on how many properties needed to be demolished.
It could be as late as September before they return home, he had heard, but no specific time frames had been given.
"If we can know sooner [then that's better], because we need to go back there and live in peace," he said.
The air-conditioned tents, located on a school oval, were assembled in late April and are similar to camps used by firefighters in New South Wales.
A catered food hall, bathrooms and a school have also been established, to keep life "business as usual", Thomas Manning, an emergency accommodation shelter manager working with the NT government, said.
Mr Manning said there were also activities available, like touch football and fishing.
"I think this is a fantastic example of what community-led recovery is like in the Northern Territory – it's certainly unique," he said.
"I think it takes a lot of collaboration and input from the local community elders, and it wouldn't have been possible without them."
Mr Manning said Nitjpurru was still under an emergency declaration and it was not possible for residents to return home until the school, shop and health clinic were fully operational.
"Until then, we'll continue to support them here in Yarralin and it's obviously important that we can try and provide as much care and comfort," he said.
The NT government said restoration works at Nitjpurru had been ongoing since May 4 when heavy vehicle access was permitted.
It said pods currently being used to accommodate workers could later be used to house residents, depending on the recovery progress.
But it said moving the community back home would not happen until the essential services were in place, which could be another eight weeks.
Questions remain over the rebuild
As well as not knowing when he would return home, Mr Anzac said he had not been told if the homes in the community would be relocated as hoped.
Mr Anzac said after devastating floods in 2001, he told authorities he wanted the community to be rebuilt on higher ground to avoid future flooding.
"Building and renovating and demolishing a house on the bottom is going to waste a million dollars every year," he said.
"That's why we need to set up a community on top."
Victoria Daly River Council mayor Brian Pedwell shared these concerns, and previously told the ABC the homes could have been saved if the NT government had listened to residents and built the homes outside of a known flood zone.
Despite wanting to be involved in the rebuild process, Mr Anzac said he was not privy to the plans, but hoped the homes would be relocated to higher ground.
But assistant director of emergency recovery Scott Perry said that was not the government's current focus.
"The recovery is focused on restoring existing structures located in the community of Nitjpurru," he said.
"These works are progressing well."
Teaching in a tent school
Teaching principal Anne Pollock said teaching children across different year levels in the one tent classroom was challenging.
"Honestly, I haven't gotten into my real teaching mode because I'm still overwhelmed," she said.
"I'm not coping as much as I thought I would."
Ms Pollock said limited teaching resources and no second support teacher was adding to the difficulty, and she hoped to begin term three as normal in Nitjpurru.
"Getting us home quicker would be good," she said.
But Ms Pollock said she didn't know what else the government could do to improve the situation.
Mr Anzac said the Yarralin site was much better than Howard Springs, where about 700 people from three different communities were living together.
The situation resulted in damage to the facility that the NT government said could potentially lead to criminal charges.
