Vital equipment locked in shed as Menindee prepares for flooding

Residents of an outback NSW town say they are battling bureaucracy and a locked shed as floodwaters travel from Queensland.

Menindee residents say they need urgent access to flood preparation equipment as floodwaters move south from Queensland, threatening to cut off properties in the isolated town.
Former Menindee State Emergency Service volunteer Graeme McCrabb said he and seven other SES volunteers quit the SES earlier this year due to what he said was a failure by the organisation to provide adequate training and support to the community.

Mr McCrabb said residents now couldn’t access vital SES equipment including two flood boats and a sandbagging machine to secure their properties, and he called on the organisation to work with the community to find a solution.

Concerned: Former Menindee State Emergency Service volunteer Graeme McCrabb. Picture: Toby Zerna

“We’ve got equipment that can’t be accessed by volunteers in a town to help prepare themselves and look after themselves in the event of flood or disaster,” he said.

“We’ve got lakes at 110 per cent capacity and no ability to get to rescue boats, and no ability to do training for volunteer members in the town,” he said.

While floodwaters travelling south from Queensland were still a few weeks away, he said there was a lot of work to do and residents needed access to the equipment to prepare.
“We want to be able to put sandbags on pallets and then store them in a shed so that they’re easy to transport when we need them,” he said.

According to WaterNSW, releases from Lake Menindee could reach 17,000ML a day by December 11 and 20,000ML a day in coming weeks, their highest level since 2012.

Mr McCrabb said the situation the community was facing brought into question the ability of the SES to provide training to small rural towns and the organisation’s willingness to partner with and loan equipment to other emergency organisations like the Rural Firefighting Service when needed.

Menindee resident Graeme McCrabb says the community needs access to two flood boats and a sandbagging machine stored at an SES shed in Menindee. Photo: Supplied

Local Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party state member Roy Butler said there had been issues with training for SES volunteers in Menindee for some time.
Earlier this year local volunteers “didn’t feel supported with mandatory training, so they en mass left the SES and went to the RFS”, he said.

In the long term he said he would like to see agencies like the RFS and SES recognise each other’s training, so trained volunteers from one agency could access equipment from the other agency when needed.

He said the situation was “incredibly frustrating” for Menindee residents, but he was confident the SES would provide the support the community required before floodwaters reached the town.

“The SES’s focus is on resolving active flooding and keeping people safe in active flood areas. But as the water moves down, there’s going to be a refocus on those areas that start flooding, and Menindee will be part of that,” he said.

High water levels at Lake Menindee, December 2021. Picture: Supplied

A NSW SES spokesman said information from the Bureau of Meteorology indicated flooding in Menindee was about five weeks away.

“We have highly trained volunteers and equipment in place to respond at the appropriate time to ensure the town is well prepared and supported during this time.

“We are also continuing to work with our emergency services partners throughout the flooding event to ensure the safety of the community,” the spokesman said.

Originally published as Vital equipment locked in shed as Menindee prepares for flooding