Working around the clock to provide comfort in the chaos
One evacuee said she felt “foolish and awkward” to begin with.
Coffs Harbour
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PROUD Woolgoolga local Greg Engel was back on deck this morning after working around the clock yesterday at the C.ex Club fire evacuation centre.
Mr Engel is the manager of the club and says approximately 140 people took shelter overnight on Tuesday. He worked from 4am to 9.00pm alongside volunteers from a number of agencies including Lifeline and The Red Cross.
"By about 9pm we had the bulk of the people here. They were mostly from the Darlington Park and Lorikeet camp grounds," Mr Engel explained.
"People were very calm - a bit concerned but nobody was panicking."
With warnings ramping up over the past few days we've been reminded that this is very new territory for Coffs Harbour; more used to preparing and responding to floods.
"There was a bit more nervousness this time because it's so hard to predict. With a flood you know there might be 1000 houses affected but fire is so volatile and you don't know how many people are going to be affected ultimately."
The Woolgoolga club was prepared to cater for up to 300 people.
The majority of those seeking shelter returned home as early as possible this morning after a hearty breakfast. One woman who preferred to go by her Facebook name Mamita Woopi (which means mother Woolgoolga) said she initially felt "foolish and awkward" coming into the centre.
"That feeling stayed with me until more people started coming in. I've been coughing for several weeks now so it was good to be in the airconditioning and in a relaxed place with other people."
One of her major concerns was a possible loss of power and phone service.
"If that happened we might not have received any of the warning messages but you can come here and get all the updates.
"If the worst thing is you feel awkward and foolish then that's fine but the worst case scenario is there are flames at your house and you're in the way of the services trying to fight the flames.
"The people here really have bent over backwards and gone well above and beyond - they've been absolutely fantastic"
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