NSW floods: SAES crews working to feed, support evacuees

Norm Archer from SAES NSW says the Salvation Army is working hard to support those affected by flooding on the Mid North Coast. Image: File

BY KIRRALEE NICOLLE 

The Salvation Army’s Emergency Services (SAES) teams are currently supporting evacuation efforts in flood-affected areas of the NSW Mid North Coast. 

With 13 evacuation centres operating across the affected region, which stretches from north of Armidale down to Sydney, SAES teams are providing food, drinks and a comforting presence to those fleeing rising water levels and power outages. 

With overflowing creeks and rivers causing significant road closures and barriers to access, SAES teams are braving difficult conditions to ensure resources are available where they are most needed.  

SAES Response Coordinator for NSW Norm Archer said that while the teams across the state consist of many volunteers, road blockages north of Taree, where there is considerable flooding, have meant that some volunteers are unable to access evacuation centres. He said one volunteer on Wednesday night drove to a motel in Kempsey, near the Macleay River, and checked in, only to find the motel was about to be evacuated.  

“There’s a lot of logistics and moving parts to get people, equipment and food in a place, particularly when they’re coming from out of area,” Norm said. “We provide the best accommodation possible [for volunteers], but that could be a stretcher in the evacuation centre.” 

Three members of the Northern Rivers Salvos are travelling to Kempsey today to assist SAES teams.

Northern Rivers Salvos team members Soseh, Danny and Diana leave Lismore this morning.

Soseh, Danny and Diana left Lismore early this morning and will join the Northern Rivers Salvos catering truck that was deployed to the affected region yesterday.

“We have loaded the bus up with a huge array of vital supplies to help this community displaced by floods,” Diana said. “We know first-hand the devastating impact floods have on a community and the long road to recovery.”

Yesterday, Norm and his teams were working to deliver volunteers, equipment and food to the Wauchope evacuation centre, about 30 minutes inland of Port Macquarie, and the Kempsey evacuation centre, about an hour north.

The Kempsey town centre was evacuated and flooded, so all shops, including the local Woolworths store, were closed. Norm said they managed to work alongside another supermarket that was open near the evacuation centre in West Kempsey, procuring food for an SAES emergency catering truck from Lismore. The truck and a small team of volunteers were at the centre, where about 50 evacuees were sheltering. They had also managed to get supplies and volunteers to the small cohort of evacuees at the Wauchope evacuation centre. 

Another volunteer is providing support in the town of Tuncurry, with more teams on standby in the Central Coast and Lismore regions. With many other centres based out of clubs and RSLs, SAES teams are doing welfare checks to ensure they have all necessary supplies and assistance. 

“One of my other regional coordinators is touching base with each of the clubs each day, just making sure they’re happy and don't have any dramas that we might be able to help with,” Norm said. “The clubs are ok, and in a good place.” 

Norm said he wanted to commend the volunteers for their commitment, because their willingness to get engaged on the ground in “less than comfortable circumstances” was what the Salvation Army was famous for. 

“We’ll provide meals, but that’s only a small percentage of the benefit we bring, because [for] people [who are] having a bad day, having evacuated their home, [who are] worried about their possessions and livelihood and life going forward, it’s a real boost to them to know that people have given up their time and are there just to serve them,” Norm said.

“The fact that the community knows that The Salvation Army, along with other community partner organisations, is part of the formal arrangements and we’re in there working hard to support them is a real benefit.”