As the ravaged communities of the Lower Hawkesbury struggle to recover from the devastating floods of recent weeks, Member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch, is calling on the State Government to ensure river communities are not forgotten and receive up-to-date information and assistance in the recovery phase.
River Cares President, Robyn Downham, said there was a long road ahead for Spencer and surrounding communities.
“We still have a long way to go regarding communication and power outages … while most residents chose to stay after evacuations orders were carried out, fuel to power generators was crucial until power is restored,” Downham said.
“There are still pockets of Spencer and other areas without electricity – we need to get some mapping from Ausgrid so we can see when power will be completely restored.
“Ausgrid crews have been on the ground daily, doing very long hours, replacing impacted power poles which has been arduous because the ground is so saturated.”
Downham said limited communications had made it very hard to touch base with everyone to make sure they were safe.
“We couldn’t reach residents in Mill Creek because they were cut off which meant the emergency services had to go out and check on them by boat,” she said.
“River Cares implemented our community-led emergency response plan and people cooperated and are thrilled that we came together helping each other during this difficult time.”
Downham said it was a major relief when a Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) taskforce from Western Australia arrived on Friday, headed by Will Blackshaw as well as members of the army and air force.
“They were amazing and coordinated all the emergency services into an action plan, finding out which residents needed what and helping with clean-ups,” she said.
“At a meeting attended by around 40 residents on Saturday, they told us what the plan was and things were very well organised.”
But Downham said lessons had been learnt and improvements needed to be made before the area faces another natural disaster, including improved coordination of emergency services.
She said the community had been heartened by local businesses and organisations which had offered help, but was annoyed that people from outside the area had tried to enter it, diverting vital emergency services from where it was needed.
Tesch said while River Cares has definitely improved the outcomes for the Spencer community this time around, this is the second time in the space of less than a year that the Hawkesbury River communities have been faced with floods, loss of livelihoods and property.
“The NSW Government must do everything in its power to ensure residents can access up-to-date information about where to go to seek refuge, access assistance or supplies” she said.
Tesch commended local emergency services personnel for their hard work in responding in fast-moving and dangerous conditions.
Terry Collins
