A state of natural disaster has been declared for the Central Coast as the mop-up continues following a flood event from September 14 to early October and the region braces for more rain throughout next week.
A Central Coast Council spokesperson said the Natural Disaster Declaration, which has been issued as a result of the severe weather and flooding that occurred from September 14 onwards, recognises the impacts on the region’s agricultural community, particularly around Mangrove Mountain.
“While fortunately, the September event was less severe on the Central Coast than the March and July events, Council welcomes the additional support the Declaration provides for local communities,” the spokesperson said.
Continuous rain through early October prompted emergency services to issue flood warnings for portions of the Central Coast including Dooralong, Yarramalong, Little Jilliby, Spencer, Mangrove Mountain, Jilliby, Lower Mangrove and Greengrove.
Residents were advised to avoid floodwater and another landslip was reported on Wisemans Ferry Rd between Spencer and Gunderman.
Council Administrator, Rik Hart, warning the community to remain vigilant at the October 11 meeting.
Hart told the meeting that the Mangrove Creek Dam reached capacity for the second time this year on October 8, with small volumes of water still spilling into Mangrove Creek.
The Upper Mooney Dam is full capacity and has been overflowing into Mooney Mooney Creek since July.
He said staff had remained on high alert and were continually monitoring roads, waterways and sewer systems.
Continuing rain had caused major issues with the road network, he said, with more than 73,000 potholes so far addressed and heavy patching, which requires dry weather, on hold.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, said the declaration was an important first step in offering support for local communities under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, which are jointly funded by the NSW Government and Commonwealth Government.
“This means assistance is available to vulnerable people whose homes or essential household items have been destroyed or damaged, and for business owners and primary producers who have suffered direct damage,” Crouch said.
“Assistance is also available to Central Coast Council to restore essential public assets like local roads.
“I am urging any local homeowner, business owner or primary producer that suffered direct damage from the recent September flood event to investigate what support might be available to them”.
Assistance available under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements for the Central Coast may include: help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged (eligibility criteria apply); support for local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets; concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations; and freight subsidies for primary producers.
For more information, go to: https://www.nsw.gov.au/disaster-recovery/natural-disaster-declarations and www.service.nsw.gov.au/floods.
Terry Collins