Bourke township is almost cut off by road as of 5.00pm on Thursday 23 November 2022 but plans are in place to keep the community well-supplied.

Roads are expected to be closed for at least five days.

The town saw an initial surge of shoppers stocking-up on items such as toilet paper after the road south was closed yesterday afternoon, leading the local supermarket to call for calm.

“Ok Bourke, we have plenty of food at IGA. PLEASE be sensible and don’t panic buy," Russell Riordan from the IGA at Bourke said on social media.

"I’ve been assured that the trucks will still come through with the groceries, bread and milk. There are contingency plans if needed we will have the helicopters flying food into us.

"No need to panic. All you achieve is making a stressful situation more stressful when you panic,” Mr Riordan said.

Mr Riordan says that while things have calmed slightly since last night, there are still queues and all checkouts are operating.

"People are starting to get the message," he said. "But there is plenty of meat, plenty of bread and plenty plenty of toilet paper!"

Bourke Shire Council is also asking the community to remain calm.

“Emergency resupplies and food resupplies for our supermarket will still make its way to Bourke under escort," said General Manager Leonie Brown

“The IGA food truck will arrive Wednesday and Saturday, fuel will be delivered, flour for bread will arrive this week along with milk and all essential items. We request that the community does not panic buy."

Emergency vehicles and food re-supply vehicles will be escorted through flooded sections of the Mitchell Highway south towards Byrock from 8am each day.

The road remains closed to all other vehicles and the public is asked to obey the road signs.

The Darling River reached 13.95 metres in Bourke yesterday afternoon (23 November) and The Darling River at Bourke is likely to peak at or above 14.00 metres during today (Thursday), with major flooding and is expected to remain at that major flood height for almost a week.

The Kidman Way south to Cobar is closed to all traffic as the water is approx. one metre deep about 3kms south of Bourke.

The Mitchell Highway or Sydney Road is also closed due to the road foundation being washed away. Trucks will be permitted to enter Bourke along the Mitchell Highway under escort. Council will continue to monitor the situation.

The Kamilaroi Highway to Brewarrina is also closed, however all vehicles can still travel north of Bourke via the Mitchell Highway into Queensland.

For residents who do need to make trips outside of the township, Airlink Airlines have added an extra flight from Bourke to Dubbo next Monday 28 November 2022, with a flight time of an hour and twenty minutes.

 NOTE from the Editor: Sentinal Hub is a free website with an excellent tutorial to view the flow of water in Australian creeks and rivers.