The big hug of thanks

Published on 01 April 2021

Flood recovery hug in Smithtown

The big hug

On the first day in the field post flood, the Australian Defence Force teams in our shire assisted council in repairing potholes over 20 km of road using 12 tonnes of bitumen.

These are the sorts of mind-blowing achievements that have been carried out not only daily but hourly by the Recovery Taskforce team that has been created to carry out relief and kickstart recovery in our shire.

The response from around the state for Kempsey Shire has been a big hug of support and sympathy provided by hundreds of people from numerous agencies.

A hug cannot be given without getting returned, so we acknowledge those many, many helping hands with our own big hug of thanks. Here are some of the many, many exceptional achievements each of these agencies have delivered.

NSW Rural Fire Service

One of the priorities for the RFS has been the isolated communities in Crescent Head and Hat head. While they were cut off, the local units established community info points for these isolated communities as well as carrying out complex resupply missions with cranes and tractors and boats.

Meanwhile across the shire, wherever there has been flood damage the local brigades have been carrying out washouts and removal of goods from homes. They have also been assisted by an RFS strike team down from MNC for a week.

Fire and Rescue

Put simply, Fire and Rescue pumped out the centre of town. Various pumps were used to attempt to clear the floodwater from Belgrave Street, with no great success. So in came the super pump. The Bulk Water Transfer System ‘HYTRANS’.

The Hytrans moves roughly 6,000 litres of water a minute and is crewed by two Specialists assisted by the local FRNSW crew, 345 Kempsey. There is only one pump of this capacity in NSW and it was brought in by Fire and Rescue and used it on Belgrave Street, with near instant, incredible impact.

Thanks to Fire and Rescue with support from the RFS and other crews, Kempsey CBD is back into operation. When the pump was turned off in the centre of Kempsey at 3pm on Saturday 27 March it was estimated that the total amount of water removed was 10 million litres. 

The HYTRANS was then moved about a kilometre up the road to pump out a section of water in another area of Kempsey. There they had to run 500m of 150mm hose to send the water back to the Macleay River. Another large amount of water was removed from Kempsey, almost another 10 million litres.

Fire and Rescue have also been busy in the outer areas. Two Rapid Damage Assessment teams were assigned to the problem areas of Stuarts Point and Maria River Road. Another crew went to Frederickton.

Is there anything they can’t do? No, just things they can’t do yet. The clean up of Riverside Park has been delayed – aside from the footpaths – because to put it simply, its still too wet. So once it dries, look out for the teams from Fire and Rescue as they wash out and clean that park.

Health NSW

In reality, all flood water is contaminated. And people in isolated communities don’t stop having health needs – or babies!

Health NSW first priority in the flood was their staffing issues - getting staff in and out to isolated communities, and carrying out medical evacuations. It was achieved without a blip, including a 38 week pregnant mother-to-be who was brought out of Crescent Head so she could have her baby.

Since that time the focus has shifted to largely preventative measures. Identifying public health risks in communities, including the sewage leak at Stuarts Point, and communicating how to mitigate those risks as people are repatriated. Providing information for householders on how to clean their properties effectively.

The Disaster Recovery Clinicians have also been busy, focusing on providing mental health support, a service they will be ramping up in the weeks to come.

Australian Defence Force

They arrived a week ago and what a difference they have made.

From dropping off food for communities and animals along Maria River Road, to assistance with rubbish removal in Smithtown and Hat Head there is a never ending list of the amazing work the ADF have assisted with.

They’ve cleared up minor roads near Toorumbee and started the massive effort to clear Toorumbee Road itself to allow Council crews in to work on the slips that have occurred. They cleaned up the boat ramp and wharf at Smithtown. They helped out at schools. They’ve even been up in the helicopter checking out our beaches and locating loose barrels for oyster farmers.

In their own words, they are proud to be defending the nation without a rifle, and they have been doing a great job of protecting us and will be doing so in the weeks to come.

NSW SES

The State Emergency Service are the lead combat agency in a flood – that means they’re the ones calling the shots and doing the work to keep people safe.

The end of the flood hasn’t lessened their load however. Since that time they have concentrated on resupplies of food and goods to isolated residents. Using boats and aviation assets to drop off food and carry out air reconnaissance.

SES have also carried out many reviews of the area, assessing the extent of damage and determining areas to prioritise for work. Their community liaison teams have also been working in and talking to residents of Stuarts Point and Gladstone.

Department of Primary Industries

Our farmers and primary producers have been some of the hardest hit members of our community and the Department of Primary Industries has been here for them. They have concentrated on stock disposal and fodder distribution.  

Their initial estimate of 4699 hectares of flood damaged land is daunting, but it is stock feed that will become their biggest issue and they are focused on supplying adequate fodder to affected farmers. They have distributed approximately 271 tonnes of fodder as of Thursday.

Welfare Services

People are at the heart of our community and the Welfare Services team have been looking out for our people. They have been working closely with people registered at one of the evacuation centres, especially in Stuarts Point and are committed to finding temporary accommodation for everyone and keeping them informed of the progress of the flood and recovery. They have also worked to track down the owners and residents of impacted properties who they weren’t in contact with.

Engineering Services

When the water goes down, it often leaves huge physical damage. Land slips, damaged roads, impassable bridges and demolished approaches in addition to the unknown impact to buildings and homes.

Engineering Services have been here in the shire providing ongoing support by way of structural assessments of houses, inspections of slips above and below roads and supporting Council with waste collection and disposal. This week they have been working through Stuarts Point, Smithtown, Jerseyville and Hat Head Road as well as inspecting roads from upriver to the CBD.

Laing O’Rourke

After their assistance with bushfire clean-up, Laing O’Rourke have been reengaged to provide logistical support for many of the agencies, assisting with rotation of skip bins and waste removal across the shire.

Council’s Waste Team

Flood waste is one of the massive outcomes of floods and from the word go, Council’s Waste team have been working with their contractor Cleanaway as well as with Environmental Protection Agency and Public Works to find solutions to the waste challenges.

From a weeklong, shire-wide 3 bin catch-up service to teams going door to door in affected areas to assist with waste removal, it has been a momentous task. Skip bins have been delivered and rotated when full. The old Frederickton Tip was reopened as a Temporary Waste Facility requiring urgent work from construction of road surfaces to applications for approval.

Council’s Infrastructure Team

Council’s staff have recorded more than 3000 additional hours of work in the last fortnight and it has primarily been the teams dedicated to roads, bridges, sewers and other public infrastructure. After being on the frontline for the initial flood response, there was no rest, just a change of clothes and tools. From cleaning up the parks and recreation areas to remove the mud (and smell); work in the CBDs to distribute and collect sandbags; checking, sampling and clearing rivers, waterways and beaches; providing information to the community; clearing, checking and repairing the road network; accessing and surveying areas that were otherwise inaccessible; working to resupply and connect isolated communities; tree clearing and fixing scours; and reinstating local access through timber bridge repairs. More than 500 individual recovery tasks have been identified through staff referrals, the rapid assessment teams or calls to Customer Service and approximately 80% of those have been completed.

In Stuarts Point Council has been on site to pump out the water and try to fasttrack the lowering of the ground water levels, with pumps now running 24/7 and Fire and Rescue following behind them laying lime down to decontaminate the ground.

Recovery Hub

The collected services at the Recovery Hub on Elbow St have been very busy with calls, emails and drop-ins. Overall the sentiment from the community has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. There have been pockets of angst and frustration, just as there are still locations facing deeply upsetting circumstances including those evacuated from their homes in Stuarts Point and houses still without energy upriver.

Emergency Operations Centre

All of the amazing response, relief and recovery work has been coordinated through the EOC running out of Kempsey Police station non-stop for a fortnight. Fantastic leadership has been provided by the Local Emergency Operation Controllers and Local Emergency Management Officer, making the difficult decisions and keeping the teams on task.

Now the transition begins to Resilience NSW who will support and oversee the work of recovery. Over the Easter long weekend, the hard work continues.

On behalf of everyone in the Macleay, we thank you all.