Parliamentary Speeches
North Coast Floods (04/06/2009)
Mr DONALD PAGE (Ballina) [5.45 p.m.]: I place on the public record my congratulations and thanks to the State Emergency Service volunteers who so willingly gave of their time, energy and skills during the recent storm and flood events that hit the far North Coast of New South Wales, including my electorate of Ballina. At the start of the week beginning 18 May we knew that there was some bad weather on the way. The State Emergency Service gave residents plenty of warning, telling us to brace ourselves for strong winds and heavy rains. The service was not wrong. On that Wednesday night the coast was hammered by some of the strongest winds that many can remember. With that came the rain. It was not long before the Ballina and Mullumbimby units of the State Emergency Service began receiving the first of almost 800 calls for help.
By the time day broke on Thursday 21 May it was clear that damage to the region was extensive. Thousands of trees were down, many had been completely uprooted; many had been snapped off, including in plantations. Large branches and trees were laid across roads and driveways; others had crashed onto roofs. Some houses had their roofs ripped off. Many trees had fallen on powerlines. I understand that at least 20,000 people lost their power supply across the region. While the focus in places such as Lismore was on flooding, in the Ballina electorate it was the wind that caused most of the damage. State Emergency Service volunteers from Mullumbimby and Ballina had their heads down, working through what must have seemed a never-ending list of jobs.
The Ballina unit received more than 425 requests for assistance during that storm-flood event. Two crews worked for two days before help arrived in the form of reinforcements from Tamworth, Gunnedah and Narrabri, and eventually 10 teams from Sydney arrived to finish outstanding jobs. Gerry Burnage from the Ballina State Emergency Service, who comes up for 25 years of service in a couple of weeks, said the storm and winds were the most frightening he had ever encountered. "It was like the end of the world", he told me when I visited the Ballina State Emergency Service to thank them for their magnificent efforts. To know that the volunteers were out in that storm and high winds speaks volumes for their courage and commitment to the very dangerous task of helping those in need.
It was a similar story for the Mullumbimby unit, which had some 365 jobs over three days, with volunteers clearing trees, conducting four rescues, evacuations and attending the collapse of one building. At the same time the unit was in the process of moving into its new operations centre. When the wind finally subsided there was still no rest. Around Byron Bay, particularly at Belongil Beach, there were concerns about houses at risk of beach erosion and storm surge. Near Ballina the community of Cabbage Tree Island was evacuated as floodwaters from Lismore moved down the Richmond River. King tides then flooded parts of Ballina and the State Emergency Service helped residents to sandbag their properties. The efforts of volunteers were tremendous. In the most atrocious conditions they carried out their work professionally, always with a smile and a sense of humour.
It is not merely the State Emergency Service volunteers who need to be thanked for their service to the community. The men and women of the Rural Fire Service also deserve mention. They willingly rolled up their sleeves and helped to fill and place some 11,000 sandbags around Ballina. Thanks as well go to the on-the-ground staff from Country Energy, who were called out in the most deplorable and dangerous conditions. More than 20,000 homes and businesses were without power on the North Coast during the storms and floods, some for as long as five days. Country Energy called in people from the south-east and Central West of New South Wales, as well as New England, to assist and relieve exhausted local crews.
Notwithstanding that, several constituents contacted my office to complain about the lack of information provided by Country Energy regarding when reconnections would occur. I have raised this issue with the new Regional Manager of Country Energy, and the company acknowledges that it needs to provide better information about the anticipated length of outages. The floods that consumed Lismore and other parts of the far North Coast as well as areas further south in Grafton, Bellingen and Kempsey were devastating, causing widespread damage and distress to hundreds of people. Flooding in the Ballina electorate was not as severe; however, the damage from wind and rain caused some of the most extensive storm damage in recent history.
One of the lessons to come from this natural disaster and the response to it is that requests from the Ballina State Emergency Service for backup were made on the Thursday but, even though backup was apparently available in other areas, no backup assistance was forthcoming until the Saturday afternoon. This delay was disappointing, especially when support units were eager and ready to help the Ballina State Emergency Service. Notwithstanding that, it is often in times of emergencies that we truly realise and appreciate how important our emergency services are. On behalf of the people of my electorate, I thank those State Emergency Service volunteers, the Rural Fire Service, the councils and those who work for them, and those who helped in any way.
