First the floods, now red tape: Lismore residents struggle to rebuild

Resilience NSW cannot say whether it has approved a single disaster relief grant to help the flood-ravaged Northern Rivers, as some Lismore residents say they can never go home.

Resilience NSW cannot say whether it has approved a single disaster relief grant to help the flood-ravaged Northern Rivers, while Lismore residents made homeless by this week’s massive deluge are being shipped to evacuation centres in Queensland.

The desperately-needed flood relief grants are being held up by baffling red tape, with the agency only now working with Service NSW to “streamline and digitise” the application process.

Despite thousands of calls for help, just 70 “dedicated customer service” staff are assessing flood grants applications.

Hundreds of residents left homeless have been forced to navigate a cumbersome application process by producing documents like pay slips, bank statements, and rent receipts.

Almost 1300 Disaster Relief Grant applications had been received by Resilience NSW by Thursday.

A father and his young daughter inspect a flooded street in Lismore. Picture: Getty Images

A Resilience NSW spokeswoman said that government agencies “are working together to deliver (grants) within the next few weeks” — suggesting not a single one has been paid.

“Previously, payment of these grants has traditionally taken months and in some cases over a year to be completed,” the spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, just 493 out of 8831 applications for a separate business support grant had been finalised as of Thursday night.

More than 7535 applications were still being assessed.

It comes as devastated flood victims reported being flown to Brisbane for temporary acc­ommodation because they had nowhere closer to home.

The Telegraph understands that hotels being used for ­temporary accommodation in NSW have bookings in the Easter holidays and have ­refused to cancel them to accommodate the flood victims — forcing the government to send people elsewhere.

Upper house Liberal MP Catherine Cusack, who is quitting parliament in anger over her own government’s flood response, said people were being denied help due to bureaucratic failures.

Taking aim at Resilience NSW, Ms Cusack criticised the strict rules in place for relief payments requiring people whose homes have been ­destroyed to rebuild in the same area.

Ms Cusack said people should get cash in hand to allow them to move if they choose.

“I know that the intention is there, but the way these grants are being administered is completely the wrong message,” she told The Daily Telegraph.

“It’s not coherent and it’s not resilient.”

Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke vowed to fight “tooth and nail” for more funding for combat agencies like the State Emergency Service, whose efforts have been hampered this week by reports of failing sirens and inaccurate rain gauges.

In the last state budget the NSWSES received $193 million from the government, while the Rural Fire Service was given three times as much with $656 million in funding.

A man rows down his street. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

The lack of movement on grants comes as Lismore’s second major flood in weeks has turned out to be the final straw for shattered residents, who have vowed never to return to their devastated homes.

For many, there was nothing to come back to anyway, but this week’s 11.4m deluge has crushed locals and business owners who were only starting to rebuild after February’s record-breaking surge of water.

Shannon Holloway and her children Blaze and Phoenix were the first in their neighbourhood to return home after being rescued from the roof of their house in last month’s disaster.

They had painstakingly cleaned and cleared their home.

They even got a new mattresses on Monday, a small step into a new life.

On Wednesday their home was inundated again and those mattresses were floating in floodwater outside. Ms Holloway has had enough.

“We’re not going to stay here after this … it’s just too much for people to comprehend,” she told The Daily Telegraph as the family’s three new mattresses floated outside their house.

“This was our future and now it’s gone.”

The Holloways had just received new mattresses after February’s floods. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

Adding to the strain for survivors is the difficulty of obtaining disaster relief payments from the government, she said.

“Anything we’ve gotten — funding or anything — you’ve got to be so aggressive and wait and wait and wait,” she said.

“I’ve done all the paperwork, I’ve done everything they’ve asked, and I just haven’t heard back from them.”

Like thousands of others, she’s staying in temporary ­accommodation, but concedes she doesn’t know what comes next.

“We’ve got two more nights and after that we don’t know,” she said.

“There’s the three cats, us. We can’t all be in one room and stay happy.”

Lismore homes under water this week after heavy rains inundated the Northern Rivers town again. Picture: Getty Images

Around the corner from her is Jodie Lynch, whose family home was ruined in the record-breaking floods.

She was back on Thursday surveying the damage after this week’s rainstorm forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

“I think we need some advice on what to do. We’ve got a beautiful neighbourhood but I know all of us don’t want to come back,” she told The Daily Telegraph.

“We don’t know where to go or what to do. We can’t stay at our mates’ house forever.

“I feel a bit paralysed by it all.”

Amid the chaos, one thing is certain — she’s leaving.

“I’m done. I’ve got an eight-year-old and an 11-year-old and this is their second flood.

“For my children I’ve got to make the decision not to come back. They’re too traumatised,” she said.

Lismore’s streets are still full of rubbish from the clean-up after February’s floods. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

The latest flood disaster comes as emergency services continue the search for Alina Brakel, 55, who went missing south of Lismore on Tuesday night after becoming trapped in her car in rising water.

Other residents, like Steve and Bianca Bennett, are determined to rebuild, but face an agonising wait for tradesmen and materials.

The couple and their two young children are staying with Steve’s parents after their entire home was “gutted” by raging waters.

“We’ll have to wait and see. Because we own, it’ll be a long battle,” she said.

“Insurance-wise, they’re telling us 12 to 18 months. It’s a long time to live with your ­in-laws and not have your own space.”

Cafe manager Matt Daniels was one of the thousands to escape with little more than the shirt on his back after his South Lismore home was ­inundated last month.

Now staying with friends, he said he was among those confused by the conflicting messages on Tuesday — when residents were initially told to go home at 5pm before fresh evacuation orders were ordered in the early hours of Wednesday.

Rain gauges were also found to be inaccurate by up to 400mm as Lismore’s levee began to spill over on ­Wednesday.

“It made no sense. Fortunately where we’re staying now is on high ground, because it honestly made no sense,” he said.

The costly task of rebuilding his business and home has now been set back again, with Mr Daniels unable to get to ­either as flood waters split the town on Wednesday.

“We’ve jumped through all the hoops and applied for everything we can, but it’s a lot of paperwork,” he said of business and personal financial help.

“They want ID documents and that (but I say) ‘I can’t give you a birth certificate, it went down the river’.”