AN SES volunteer who was flown into our flood ravaged area on Friday was shocked when they saw the widespread devastation from the air.
“The force of nature just took my breath away and in my 38 years in the SES, I have never seen such widespread damage and destruction,” he told News Of The Area.
He saw creeks that had turned into lakes with hundreds of cattle lying dead in paddocks or floating in water.
Farmers not only lost stock and fencing but valuable feed assets of silage bales.
The local government areas of Port Macquarie, Kempsey and Nambucca saw the SES respond to 7758 incidents as of 7am Monday.
They carried out 794 flood rescues with a combined force of 3500 personnel from various government agencies – 2200 of that number being SES volunteers.
There was an extra contingent of 2000 council, electrical workers and telco employees.
Seventy Australian Defence Force members were flown into the area to assist with dozens of warnings still in place.
The SES had carried out damage assessments on 5200 properties by the start of the week with more in the pipeline. At this stage, 780 homes have been declared uninhabitable by a 276-member assessment team, still in the field.
It is estimated that there will be a further 10,000 properties to assess.
Extra SES personnel have been flown in from Qld, WA, Vic, SA, Tasmania and the ACT to assist with the tasks ahead.
In Port Macquarie alone, 1257 properties have been assessed for damage, with 185 deemed damaged and a further 24 classified as inhabitable.
Of these, 176 buildings were inundated along with 74 yard floodings.
It is estimated that 2200 properties in Port Macquarie have some form of flood damage.
All agencies including the SES worked together in a seamless manner to provide assistance on a needs basis.
“Those who prepared well, did the best,” an SES commander told NOTA.
“When impacted by a life-threatening event it is best to act like you are in a lifeboat, not a cruise ship.”
By Bill HARROW
