Drownings in flooded Fitzroy River spark warning

People are being urged not to swim across the flooded Fitzroy River after two men drowned while trying to reach the other side of town.

The body of a 20-year-old man was recovered on Monday after he entered the water near the Fitzroy River Lodge in Western Australia's north.

Another man, aged 40, was found drowned in the river on February 10.

Fitzroy Crossing was split by once-in-a-century floods in January which destroyed dozens of homes and collapsed the town's bridge.

Repair efforts across the Kimberley region have been hampered by continued heavy rain with weeks still left to run in the wet season.

The full rebuild of the Fitzroy Crossing bridge is expected to take years and Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson says it's not feasible to build a walkway under the conditions.

"The reality is we're still in the wet season and the remaining bridge structure is not actually safe," he told reporters on Thursday.

"It is a dangerous river at the best of times and it's certainly dangerous at the moment."

Mr Dawson encouraged locals to utilise a helicopter service operating three times a day to transport people across the river.

"I would urge people to stay out of the dangerous river," he said.

With tradespeople to be needed in the Kimberley for years to come, Rio Tinto has donated a 40-person mobile accommodation camp.

It's expected the camp, worth about $4 million, will be operating in Fitzroy Crossing by late April.

Rio is funding the relocation of the camp and associated facilities as compensation for the costs of the search for a missing radioactive capsule.

The tiny capsule, which fell out of a density gauge while being trucked by a contractor from a Rio mine to Perth, was found last month on an outback road south of Newman after days of intensive searching.

No contamination has been detected at the site.

Rio chief executive Simon Trott said the value of the overall camp package exceeded that of the search and would be provided in lieu of a cash payment to the government.

Separate investigations by Rio and state and federal authorities into the mishap are yet to be completed.

Mr Dawson said about 100 homes would need to rebuilt in the Kimberley in coming years, in addition to the repair of roads and bridges.

He was confident there would be enough skilled workers available to fill the camp despite intense demand across the state economy.

Dozens of Kimberley locals remain in emergency hotel accommodation in Broome and Derby.

Supply shortages have been reported in the far northern town of Kalumburu after a fresh bout of heavy rainfall in recent days.