A huge RAAF aircraft has landed in Darwin carrying desperately needed emergency shelter for residents on Cyclone Lam-ravaged Elcho Island.

But it may take until Sunday for the makeshift accommodation to arrive, be set up and ready for use.

Cyclone Lam tore through Elcho Island last week with category four-rated wind gusts of around 260kph, leaving 61 homes uninhabitable and forcing many residents into cyclone shelters in the main community of Galiwinku.

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The Northern Territory Government requested military help for the recovery effort and the call was answered with the arrival of a RAAF C-17 Globemaster strategic airlift and heavy multi-role transport aircraft Thursday at Darwin International Airport.

The aircraft, which can carry up to 77,519 kilograms of cargo, brought tents and beds for residents left without a home.

On Friday, the equipment will be transported by barge to Elcho Island, about 520 kilometres from Darwin.

A man on Elcho Island goes through items in a destroyed home. Photo: ABC

It is expected the barge will arrive at Elcho on Saturday, where a 300-bed tent city will be ready for use on Sunday.

Elcho Island’s tiny airport is incapable of handling the sheer size and 265,352kg weight of the Globemaster.

Chief Minister Adam Giles said the recovery effort was moving into the next stage, with residents soon to be moved out of cyclone shelters in community buildings like schools and into temporary emergency accommodation.

“Right now, we want to be able to get people out of the cyclone shelters and make sure they have a different or better level of amenity,” he said.

The supplies on the aircraft were provided by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, and their Northern Territory counterparts will set up the camp on Saturday for residents to move into by Sunday.

“Once the construction of that immediate accommodation facilities are in place, the cyclone shelters will be back up and running,” Mr Giles said.

That cannot happen soon enough for humanitarian workers on the ground.

“The cyclone shelter in Galiwinku is the school. There’s only one at the moment and it’s under a fair amount of stress,” said Kirra Litchfield from the Red Cross.

The organisation has staff in Galiwinku, providing support for those affected by the cyclone.

“It’s been open since Wednesday before the cyclone and has been affected by the cyclone itself,” Ms Litchfield said of the shelter.

The Red Cross is also providing psychological support, which Johnny Dhurrkay, a mental health worker at Galiwinku says is needed just as much as help to repair infrastructure.

He said Cyclone Lam “was a big trauma for us, we’re still struggling”.

“(Workers) are still cleaning up and also some houses got no power yet.”

Mr Giles said the damage bill from the cyclone was climbing, as more damage was assessed.

He said it would likely be “well over” $100 million.

– ABC