Food concerns after floods cut roads

The federal government has sought to reassure people they will not go without food, after severe flooding cut major transport links in the centre of the country.

Inland floods damaged rail infrastructure in South Australia and cut food supply lines to the Northern Territory and Western Australia this week.

Shortages of food and essential supplies are now a concern in Darwin, Western Australia and remote towns including Coober Pedy.

"Our first concern is for the safety and needs of those directly affected and we know that through working together we can keep the wheels turning and restore supply chains across the country," Emergency Management Minister Bridget McKenzie said Saturday.

"The community has a role in this too, by buying what you need and not hoarding," she said.

"This unnecessarily spikes demand and then directly impacts supply."

The government's National Coordination Mechanism is working through options with states and territories to keep essential supplies stocked and carry out repairs quickly, Senator McKenzie said.

A 14-day major emergency was declared in South Australia on Friday, allowing the state's Police Commissioner Grant Stevens to direct the movement of freight and improve SA food security.

The Stuart Highway, the main link between Adelaide and Darwin, remains underwater on Saturday and there is no time frame for when it will reopen.

The disruption to the supply chain is the biggest to upset to food supply in Western Australia in "living memory", Richard Forbes from Independent Food Distributors of Australia told the ABC.

"This is a very serious situation. Thousands of tonnes of food are transported every day from the eastern states to the west."

He said the damage to infrastructure meant 6500 venues serviced by IFDA, including nursing homes, cafes and restaurants, were immediately going without food.