Goulburn Island residents will head home after being evacuated for the second time in a month as Cyclone Nathan loses power and moves inland as a tropical low.
They will be flown home on Wednesday, after assessment teams concluded there was minimal damage, and that water, power and sewerage are operational, NT Emergency Service director Andrew Warton said.
Four hundred and twenty-seven people were sent to Darwin in an emergency operation on Monday as the storm moved towards the island where there are no buildings that could have withstood the then-projected category 3 system.
The community was also completely evacuated as Cyclone Lam approached in late February.
"It has been very difficult for those community members to be evacuated for the second time," Chief Minister Adam Giles told parliament.
"You have deep concerns for their wellbeing and safe return back to their community, and that their community is intact when they return.
"I also thank very much everyone who prepared for Nathan as it crossed through Nhulunbuy, Elcho Island and all the other areas around Milingimbi, Ramingining and the homelands."
Clean-up operations were already underway in many communities.
"The damage from Tropical Cyclone Nathan is nowhere near as severe as it was from Tropical Cyclone Lam," Mr Warton said.
"Obviously it still had an impact on communities; there were powerlines down, multiple reports of trees down, there were some trees through roofs, there was definitely some structural damage.
"The objective now is to commence the recovery processes where there's been damage from this cyclone, and of course resume the recovery process where there was damage caused by Cyclone Lam."
Galiwinku community on Goulburn Island was hardest hit by Cyclone Lam, and more than 200 people are still homeless and living in temporary tent shelters.
For the longer-term repair of the 76 homes ruled uninhabitable after Cyclone Lam, Mr Giles said the government was determining whether to deploy workers to build houses as quickly as possible, or to run a four-year training program to qualify locals as electricians and carpenters to rebuild the homes.
In the latest update by the Bureau of Meteorology on Tuesday afternoon, Nathan was downgraded to a tropical low with sustained winds near the centre of 55km/h, 135km southwest of Goulburn Island, and travelling west southwest at 24km/h.
All cyclone watches and warnings have been cancelled, but damaging wind gusts and heavy rain warnings remain in place for the Arnhem and Carpentaria coastal rivers, which may flash flood.
