NSW has had more than its fair share of natural disasters in the last 2 years starting with the bush fires, COVID and more recently the flooding which was caused by extraordinary rain events. The total amount of rain that fell on NSW equalled approximately 160 Sydney Harbours according to our BOM experts. However during these unprecedented disasters mankind has always managed to cope and find a way to return the situation back to normal. This is all because of our ability to work together, which is called “mateship”, to help those in need by contributing towards the recovery process. Often these unsung heroes don’t get the credit for their contributions and this article wishes to acknowledge the efforts of our own in the recent flood recovery process.
During March the waters from the Warragamba dam over flowed and flooded the low-lying areas of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River basin in Western Sydney. This is where our own Malcolm MacKenzie, who is a qualified flood rescue operator with the NSW SES, assisted his community by:
In Port Macquarie our Northern NSW spray seal crew helped the local Council with the clean-up of their flooded streets by the removal of the debris and mud. In the 4 days of doing flood relief in the Port Macquarie region, they were able to remove 21 loads of debris and mud along Settlement Point Road. This allowed the SES to launch their boats from the boat ramp and provide access to bring the car ferry back into service so emergency services could reach the Nort Shore Island. They also provided assistance to help local residents who were struggling to clean their driveways.
We are grateful to Malcom and Andrew’s crew for their efforts and all others who might have been involved in providing assistance to those in need during these floods.