MUCH-NEEDED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE WELCOMED

BY SARAH WATERS

THERE are residents at Chinderah’s Homestead Holiday Park who get anxious every time it rains heavily.

Memories of last year’s February and March floods are still fresh in their minds.

The holiday park was one of many in the Tweed Shire subjected to widespread flooding, which resulted in most of its residents been evacuated by boat and jetski.

Cut off from internet and phone services, they were left to face rising flood waters until help arrived.

But, now residents at Chinderah’s holiday parks are a lot more prepared for future emergencies.

Last Wednesday (May 24) portable radios were handed over to residents at the holiday parks to improve flood resilience in the Tweed.

The radios were among more than 40 Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) radios purchased by the Australian Red Cross Emergency Service.

The Australia Red Cross Emergency Service received a $20,000 donation from the Together Tweed Mayoral Flood Appeal 2022 to purchase the radios.

If communication is lost during a flood or bushfire emergency in the future, the radios will ensure communities are not isolated.

Red Cross Community Resilience Officer Tammy Jones assisted displaced community members during the 2022 floods.

She worked at the Banora Point Evacuation Centre and provided outreach support to isolated communities.

Mrs Jones said the radios would enable residents to stay connected to each other during times of need.

“After the 2017 flood, a lot of people didn’t think we could get anything worse - and then the floods of Feb 2022 hit us and it was far worse,” Mrs Jones said.

“We are still providing support to so many community members who remain displaced and are in need of help following last year’s flood.”

Mrs Jones started the Community-led Resilience Teams (CRT) which grew out of the disaster recovery work in the Tweed following the widespread flooding from Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017.

Community-led Resilience Teams are led by residents and provide emergency preparedness information within their local communities.

They link to emergency service agencies including the SES and fire brigades to raise awareness of local disaster risks and combine resources to improve the resilience of individuals, families and the community.

Mrs Jones said Community-led Resilience Teams have really helped communities come together and support each other.

“After the floods you saw so many people isolated and disconnected, and they weren’t getting the information they needed to.

“We believe these new Community-led Resilience Teams will do a lot to build resilience in the community moving forward.”

There are currently 26 Community-led Resilience Teams in the Tweed Shire and 130 altogether throughout NSW.

More and more communities, especially isolated ones, throughout the state have started to adopt the model.

Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry joined Mrs Jones at Homestead Holiday Park to formally present the radios to its residents.

Mayor Cherry said residents at holiday parks in Chinderah were among the most vulnerable in the community.

“I am especially pleased to see these funds raised through the appeal going to them,” Ms Cherry said.

“We know that in times of emergency, knowledge is power, and these radios will go a long way towards ensuring communities are not isolated again in the event of any future emergency - be it flood, fire, pandemic or any other situation.

“With these radios, residents will be able to make contact with each other, with their neighbours at nearby holiday parks and stay in touch with first responders to ensure they are well prepared for any event.”

A total of $80,230 was raised through the Together Tweed Mayoral Flood Appeal 2022 appeal.

In addition to the radios purchased for the Red Cross, funds were distributed to the Murwillumbah Community Centre to replace their bus and to the Family Centre, Northern Rivers Community Foundation (NRCF) and local units of the NSW State Emergency Service (SES).

For more information on the Together Tweed Mayoral Flood Appeal 2022, visit tweed.nsw. gov.au/mayoral-floodappeal Anyone who is interested in setting up a CRT in their community can contact the Red Cross at nswemergencyservices@ redcross.org.au