State Member for the northern New South Wales (NSW) town of Lismore, Janelle Saffin, has praised the efforts of local boat owners and community members, as they support the State Emergency Service (SES) to rescue stranded residents in the flood-ravaged town.
This comes as floods have devastated southern Queensland and northern NSW over the past few days, with 13 people killed, many still missing, and thousands of homes flooded.
Saffin, who had to swim to safety with the help of an old tyre after her own home was inundated, told NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns via live chat on Tuesday that with SES stretched, locals had got their boats out to assist with rescues.
“Yep, we call them the ”tinnie army“, but we like big, powerful tinnies (aluminium boats) because you’re in floodwaters, they’re treacherous, and we like you to be a boat person,” Saffin said.
Saffin commended the tinnie army for the numerous rescues they’ve carried out, calling them “great local people.”
“But look, some people went out in canoes. My electorate officer had an inflatable canoe and he rescued a woman. So, whatever does the job.”
She also praised the 60 Fijian workers in Lismore for seasonal work, who joined in rescue efforts , carrying people to safety in their arms.
“These fellas are now part of the Lismore community,” she said.
Saffin emphasised that the most important thing to do at the moment is getting people off their roofs, with the Australian Defence Force (ADF)—which has 600 active personnel currently involved in rescue efforts—using helicopters to airlift people to safety.
“We need to make sure they get out,” she said. “And further downstream through Bungawallin and all those areas, ... dramatic rescues [are] going on with our ADF, with the Black Hawks.”
Saffin stressed that in the recovery process, the town needs to rebuild smarter and take into account lessons learned from these floods.
“Sounds like boring language, but that’s what we need to do,” she said.
“And I don’t want just the standard programs, put in a submission, here’s the criteria. I want us to be around a table fashioning our response together.”
Meanwhile, the northern NSW towns of Ballina and Lennox Head have joined the long list of towns and areas with evacuation orders in place, as the Richmond River rises above March 2017, March 1974, and February 1954 peaks in some locations.
In addition, as an East Coast Low moves south, bringing heavy rain, Warragamba Dam began to spill on Wednesday morning and SES have asked people living in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, northwest of Sydney, to prepare for evacuation as minor to major flooding is expected.
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