CFA helps with NSW flood response

In mid-March 2021, the entire NSW coast experienced the most significant floods in decades, with some areas receiving more than 400mm of rain. Flooding stretched 600 kilometres from Sydney to the Northern Rivers region, and tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate from the Hawkesbury-Nepean River area in Sydney. Between 22 and 28 March, 16 CFA members helped NSW emergency services during the devastating floods. Fourteen CFA employees and two volunteers took on roles such as information and warnings duty officer, intelligence officer, management support officer, mapping officer and operations officer. We spoke to three of the people about their experiences. Rachael Leoncini, who’s a volunteer with Mt Buninyong Fire Brigade and also Regional Operations Coordinator based in Ballarat, carried out the night-shift intelligence officer role in Maitland, near Newcastle. “I monitored rain gauges and flood meters and compared them with the flood Intelligence guide to see what we needed to do and when,” Rachael said. “When the flood water reached certain levels on the meters, we had to take action. This included supplying the relevant functions for community messaging and issuing of evacuation warnings and orders. “We received information from ground crews to verify the data and turned that into intelligence to create a bigger picture. I also wrote briefings comparing this flood to previous ones and the impact these floods have had on the effected communities.” Rachael experienced a truly multiagency environment, which included SES, NSW Fire and Rescue, police, Surf Life Saving NSW and Victoria DELWP. She worked very closely with SES, who gave CFA members all the support they needed in an unfamiliar environment. “Working with SES was really good and they helped us to understand their processes and documents,” she said. “Also, my team was predominantly women which was wonderful to see.” Rachael said a lot of wellbeing support was also offered. “While in NSW, I was contacted by our local rostered duty coordinator, state agency commander and state duty officer to make sure I was OK, and when I got home Peer Support also made contact with me.” Kyneton Fire Brigade firefighter John Pearce is a Level 2 incident controller, working mostly in incident control centres (ICCs) in District 2. John has been to NSW before to help with fires in the Blue Mountains, but this was the first time he has travelled interstate to help with floods. He carried out a five-day shift as a Level 2 deputy operations officer at the ICC in Maitland (pictured). “My role was to liaise between the ICC and div comms up and down the coast. We were dealing with floods from Newcastle to the Queensland border,” John said. “We talked to divisional commanders to find out what they needed and then the ICC organised it. “It was an interesting experience and I appreciated the opportunity to help. I worked with agency personnel from all over Australia which was very rewarding. SES NSW were easy to work with and they appreciated our help. “Although the NSW standard operating procedures and computer system are a bit different to Victoria’s, we had good briefings and it was quite easy to get up to speed.” David Stephens, who is a Mount Mercer Fire Brigade firefighter and 2nd deputy group officer of Leigh Group in District 7, was initially a deputy operations officer in Maitland. But a couple of hours into his first shift he was switched to work with the deputy incident controller working through the transition to recovery process. “There was a lot of work to be done to return communities back to as close as normal as soon as possible,” David said. “This included critical infrastructure assessments and repairing roads and bridges, power supply and connectivity for phones and data.” On the third day David became a deputy incident controller. “This was my first interstate deployment and the first significant flood I’ve been involved in. Although it was a major flood event, a lot of the issues are the same as fire or any other emergency. One of the main similarities was the fatigue – of personnel in the field and IMTs and, just as importantly, the fatigue in the communities. “Although challenging, this deployment was very fulfilling. I had the privilege to work with many members from NSW Police, RFS, Fire and Rescue NSW, SES and ADF and many others. I’ve kept in touch with a few people I got along with. “It’s a nice feeling to come home and feel that you may have helped someone in a very difficult time in their life.”

STORY DUNCAN RUSSELL