Police search launched for man swept away in Central Australia flooding

Northern Territory Police are searching for a 60-year-old man believed to have been swept away in floodwaters near the remote Aboriginal community of Santa Teresa, south of Alice Springs, late yesterday.

In a statement, a police spokesperson said aboutaround 6:50am today, officers received a report that a man had been swept off the roof of a vehicle that had "become stuck in floodwater" near Phillipson Bore Road at about 7pm.

"The vehicle contained a man and a woman and had become stuck in a creek, forcing the two occupants to seek refuge on the roof," the spokesperson said.

The police spokesperson said the woman was able to walk back to Santa Teresa, where she reported the man missing to police this morning.

"The Search and Rescue Section has been deployed to search for the man, including resources from Santa Teresa and Alice Springs Police Stations, along with drone support and police divers," the spokesperson said.

Santa Teresa/Ltyentye Apurte is a remote Aboriginal community located about 80 kilometres south of Alice Springs.

The incident comes after a series of severe weather warnings — including for heavy rainfall, damaging winds and hail — were issued across Central Australia in recent days.

The head of Santa Teresa's Atyenhenge Atherre Aboriginal Corporation, Ellie Kamara, said the road to the community had been severely damaged by rain in recent days.

She said about 45.5 millimetres of water had fallen near the community since Sunday.

Ms Kamara said she had been trying to return home to the community from Alice Springs on Tuesday night, but had to be collected by someone in a large troop carrier vehicle to make it back on the damaged road.

"The water in the creeks comes up really quickly, depending on where the rain is, and [on Tuesday night] nearly every single creek along the road came up," she said.

Police are urging anyone who may have seen or heard from the missing 60-year-old man to contact police on 131 444.