Almost 800 homes declared write-offs in flood deluge
The number of destroyed homes from inundating floods has doubled to about 800 as flood-weary communities feel some relief with weather conditions set to ease.
SES spokesman Matt Heap said on Tuesday that 794 homes in the Mid North Coast region of NSW have been deemed as unfit for living in after more than 5000 damage assessments were conducted.
That figure of uninhabitable dwellings is expected to rise sharply throughout the day.
At the peak of the flooding, 50,000 people were isolated as delivering critical food supplies became a major priority to areas where roads are cut off.
The natural disaster has cost five lives and kept about 12,000 people isolated.
But weather conditions will ease from Wednesday after damaging winds pass through the region first.
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“We do have damaging wind warnings … that includes the high elevated parts of the mid-north Coast and northern Hunter,” senior meteorologist Dean Narramore from the Bureau of Meteorology said on Tuesday.
“We could see showers develop this afternoon with strong and gusty winds but those conditions should ease tonight and then they’ll clear out by Wednesday.”
With all eyes on the rapidly changing weather, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit the region on Tuesday.
On Monday, he announced 70 Australian Defence Force personnel would be dispatched to help with the recovery and mop-up.
Affected locals have been picking up muddied possessions and surveying damage, while drones have been used to drop hay to isolated farms and for aerial welfare checks at properties.
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Nadia Zarb, artist and gallery owner in Taree, one of the worst-hit towns, said she could not have coped without community support.
“We’ve got the best community, we’ve got the support around us and I couldn’t ask for anything more,” she said.
Michael Kemp, state MP for Oxley – which covers four local government areas on the mid-north Coast – said it was tough seeing “people’s livelihoods on the side of the kerb”.
Insurers have so far received more than 4000 claims.
The crisis has also prompted federal-state natural disaster recovery arrangements, including small loans for business, which have been activated for 19 local government areas.
“I can assure everybody on the mid-north coast that those agencies are working around the clock to get those communities back up on their feet,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said.
But NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders said farmers needed more than loans to help recover from the disaster.
“What they need is a helping hand in the form of a grant to enable them to uplift their business,” Saunders said in Taree.
“The feeling is a little bit starting to get angry now as people wonder where the support actually is.”
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell has also warned about looting after two men, both aged 20, were arrested for allegedly stealing property amid flood clean-up.
“The impact of this weather event has been unimaginable and to think they now have to be concerned about hanging on to whatever property they have left is a disgrace,” he said.
“Stealing from people vulnerable during hard times like these is un-Australian.”
