Nauiyu residents return to 'gut-wrenching' scenes of flood devastation

Clean-up efforts are still under way following flooding at Nauiyu / Daly River earlier this year. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

Residents of the Northern Territory town of Nauiyu / Daly River have started returning home after spending three months in evacuation centres following extensive flooding.

While some buildings have been cleaned and repaired, others remain severely damaged.

Residents and community leaders are looking to restart conversations about a proposal to relocate the community to higher ground.

Service providers in the flood-affected community of Nauiyu / Daly River are pleading for governments to better support the remediation of the town as evacuees return to the area following devastating flooding.

Residents began arriving home last week after spending three months in evacuation centres, finding both repaired homes and destruction upon their return.

Flooding in the remote town, located about 220 kilometres south-west of Darwin, saw residents evacuated in February and again in March.

Wally Johnston says he and his family are glad to be back in their home town. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

Wally Johnston, a long-time Nauiyu resident whose home was among the first to be cleaned, said he and his family were glad to be back in community.

"We're doing a lot of things that we missed out on, like fishing and being outside," he said.

"No-one's telling us what to do, where to go, what time to sign in, what time to sign out."

While many residents are relieved to be back, piles of dirt and damaged infrastructure have left some community members, including Ronald Cooper, with mixed feelings about coming home.

Ronald Cooper says while he is glad to be back in Nauiyu, the damage caused by the flood is significant. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

Evidence of the floods which saw the Daly River peak at a record height of 16.26 metres in March can still be seen throughout the community.

Mounds of dirt line the roadside, while large parts of a barbed wire fence around the public swimming pool are strewn on the ground, the pool itself dusty and littered with rubbish.

The community's public swimming pool is still in disrepair. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

Mr Cooper said the damage presented health and safety concerns.

"I reckon for the older people they're going to be a bit scared of melioidosis and that sort of thing in the soil," he said.

With the remaining Nauiyu evacuees set to return over the coming month, the Victoria Daly Regional Council (VDRC) said funding was desperately needed to remediate buildings not owned by the NT government.

The Nauiyu Aged Care Ser