Of all the areas on the Central Coast, the communities on the Lower Hawkesbury, including Spencer, have been doing it the most tough during the current flood crisis.
Completely cut off from the rest of the Central Coast by road closures, residents had been without power for five days as at March 9, a situation likely to continue for at least five more days.
River Cares President, Robyn Downham, said the past week had been “horrendous”.
While Ausgrid had delivered 50 portable generators to get households up and running, a continuing problem has been securing enough fuel, with emergency fuel supplies expected to be delivered on March 10.
“The SES has had lots of feet on the ground installing sandbags and helping with landslips and the Salvos have been delivering food hampers,” she said.
“Ausgrid has been here every day with trees crashing down and taking down power lines from Wisemans Ferry to Spencer.”
Downham said high tides were exacerbating the problems caused by heavy rains.
“There was also a massive landslip between Mills Creek and the Spencer Store,” she said.
“Everyone is tired, worried and anxious; they’re at the end of their tether.
“We are resilient but we will be trying to organise some counselling once the crisis is over.”
Downham said it was the worst flood event she could remember, including the massive flooding event in February/March last year.
With no lines of communication, Downham has been kept busy travelling the area to make sure everyone is accounted for.
“It’s been very frightening,” she said.
“Paranoid at the thought of trees coming down, many have been unable to sleep … so far no trees have fallen on homes but there is lots of damage to power lines.”
She said Ausgrid has been particularly helpful, with workers on site every day since March 4 trying to put in new power poles but the soft ground was making their work arduous.
“With high tides and run-off from the mountains there is just nowhere for the water to go.”
Downham said residents are agitating for more help from all three levels of government in finding a long-term solution to flooding issues in the area.
“Our first step is getting our CB network up and operating and I have invited Central Coast Council Administrator, Rik Hart, to come to the area and see first-hand how it is affected but more long-term solutions are needed,” she said.
“The first thing we need is improvements along Wisemans Ferry Rd which is the major access to the area.
“If anything happens on the M1 traffic is diverted to this road and if it is hazardous it is a real nightmare.
“We also need a fixed generator at the Telstra base station at Gunderman.
“This needs to automatically kick in and provide reliable mobile service in emergency situations.
“We don’t really have any stormwater drainage, although we pay for it, and this compounds our problems – we have culverts still blocked from last year.”
Downham said many homes and businesses had been flooded, including the caravan park, which resembles a swimming pool, and the Spencer Store’s Dunkirk Hotel.
Some people from low-lying areas had been evacuated to Diggers at Ettalong, with many others moving in with neighbours with two-storey homes which are a little safer from floodwaters, she said.
“Many residents have made the choice to stay and stick it out,” she said.
Terry Collins
