Chief Minister Eva Lawler has postponed her trip to Japan amid concerns the Territory’s “infrastructure corridors are becoming inaccessible” due to flood waters, pledging to ensure “supplies” get to the Territory, as residents in one remote community have been evacuated to Darwin while several emergency flood warnings were issued Saturday night.

“We are seeing flooding and limited road and rail access along the Stuart Highway and Victoria Highway, with 500 metres of rail washed away between Tennant Creek and Katherine,” a statement from Ms Lawler said on Saturday afternoon.

“At this stage our infrastructure corridors are becoming inaccessible. We are working on plans on how we can get supplies into the Territory.

“I will not be going anywhere until I know all Territorians have the supplies and access that they need.”

The NT Emergency Service issued a statement late Friday afternoon announcing the closure of the Stuart Highway due to flooding between the Roper Highway and Three Ways, with various other low-lying sections flooded with water levels rising at the time.

By Saturday night, the NT Emergency Service had issued flood warning “watch and act” notices for the Victoria River area, the North Western Rivers, Bonaparte and Western parts of Carpentaria, as well as the Daly River area.

While no official statement was provided by emergency services about the rail line being washed out, Ms Lawler’s statement indicated 500 metres had been damaged by flood waters between Tennant Creek and Katherine, which is expected to cause disruptions to the supply of fresh food and other freight to major grocery stores in the Darwin region.

Roughly 200 metres of rail line was washed away north of Tennant Creek last March, resulting in major disruptions to fresh food supply, which took nearly a week to repair.

Meanwhile, Ms Lawler said roughly 20 residents in the remote community of Pigeon Hole had been evacuated to Darwin while “a number of communities in the Territory are under flood warnings”.

The community of Daguragu was also expected to be hit by flood waters for the second year in a row,

Residents of Pigeon Hole were expected to be temporarily housed at a short-stay facility in Marrara instead of the Howard Springs facility used last year to accommodate flood evacuees that resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to the facility.

The Foskey Pavilion was flagged by officials as a potential accommodation facility should more remote residents need shelter in Darwin.

Ms Lawler was scheduled to depart for Tokyo on Sunday for her first international overseas trip since becoming Chief Minister late last month, but has now postponed the trade mission to meet with Inpex officials indefinitely to focus on “the safety and wellbeing of Territorians”, her office said.

The latest weather updates can be found here.

The NT’s road report, with the latest road conditions, can be found here.