Residents across Western Australia's far north have been warned to expect more storms, heavy rain and flooding over the coming days as a monsoon trough continues to make its way across the Kimberley.
The system, which had been building for much of the week, has dumped 352.8mm on Broome since 9am on Sunday, eclipsing the 338mm that fell across the whole of last year.
The rain began on Sunday and a wild electrical storm at about 5am on Monday heralded the arrival of a second storm front.
"Since November 1 to 9am Sunday, Broome had 156mm for the entire wet season," Bureau of Meteorology Broome duty forecaster Daniel Hayes said.
"But after 9am [on Sunday] there was 232mm — so we have well and truly doubled our wet season total so far."
The first storm front delivered 40mm in 40 minutes and a second front at midday dropped 100mm in 90 minutes.
"The others averaged a millimetre a minute, but we doubled that for last night's storm," Mr Hayes said.
'Came out of nowhere'
While no major damage has been reported, some Broome residents were hit hard.
Grant Hall was in his lounge room on Sunday afternoon with his family when the storm suddenly intensified.
"It just came out of nowhere," he said.
"I told the kids to get in the bathroom because I wasn't sure what was happening.
"The wind was whistling and there was stuff flying everywhere.
Mr Hall, who has lived at his home in Cable Beach for 25 years, said all his mature trees had fallen, two shade sails had blown away, and all his fences were down.
"It's a few thousand dollars' damage," he said.
"It's heartbreaking really — the whole place has changed."
DFES has urged drivers to stay off the roads where possible and avoid driving through floodwaters.
The Water Corporation, meanwhile, has urged residents to avoid any contact with floodwater due to the possibility it might have been contaminated by wastewater.
There are no impacts to Broome's drinking water and the town's wastewater treatment plant is operating as normal.
Floodwaters block highway
Main Roads closed the Great Northern Highway on Sunday morning after floodwaters impacted the stretch between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek.
Regional manager Gerry Zoetelief said the highway would likely remain closed for an extended period because the Fitzroy and Margaret rivers were still surging.
"We think it will be closed for a while," he said.
"I would say to people that you won't be moving between the East and West Kimberley by road this week unless something changes.
Mr Zoetelief said traffic was already banked up on the Fitzroy Crossing side of the closure and plans were underway to cart fuel through to people stuck on the other side.
Despite the wild weather, the deluge is a far cry from Broome's highest daily total of 476mm, which was recorded on January 30, 1997.
The record monthly total was set under a similar tropical low in January 2018, with 945.4mm in the gauge, along with a single-day fall of 439mm.
