East Lismore flood victim’s angst at life in ‘Limbo Land’

“We met senior management who came and shook hands and it was great, and since then nothing.” What made Crystal so mad.

The flood victims at a special online meeting were anonymous - but ‘Crystal’ of East Lismore caught the mood of many, calling out a shambles which had emerged as the waters subsided.

“We didn’t have any predictions of how catastrophic it was going to be. We didn’t get anything from SES, we didn’t get anything from government,” Crystal told the forum hosted by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) on Thursday night.

An observation earlier in the meeting by ICA chief executive Andrew Hall that floods were now predictable triggered Crystal.

“How can we say it’s predictable when this was unfathomable?” she asked.

“We live in East Lismore. We just raised our house two metres above the flood level not because of flood (but) to get our four wheel drives under the house.”

The wake of the back-to-back floods has left many Lismore residents frustrated and angry. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

A common frustration at the meeting was the flow of communication between insurance companies and flood victims.

“We said from the beginning we want full communication (with our insurer),” Crystal said.

“We want to have a good relationship with our insurance company. We met senior management who came and shook hands and it was great, and since then nothing.

“It’s been Limbo Land. We’ve only just now had someone come out and look at sanitisation and restoration.

“You need to have good communication, we need to know what’s going on.

Lismore CBD clean-up after the second flood within a month.

“But that doesn’t seem to be happening ... there’s just tradies being chucked at you every two seconds. Things are getting done that shouldn’t be done. Things are getting ripped out that shouldn’t be ripped out.

“For people who are going through such a traumatic experience ... I have lost faith in the system.”

ICA will now embark on a two-week face-to-face community roadshow for policyholders affected by the Northern Rivers floods.

The in-person forums will aim to provide policyholders with detail on the claims process, complaints avenues and other useful information.

Each session will include a presentation and opportunity for policyholders to raise concerns or ask general questions in a public forum.

Lismore’s recovery will be a long road. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

This will be followed by breakout sessions where community members can speak with insurance company representatives. All sessions will run from 5.30pm for a 6 o’clock start.

Murwillumbah: Monday May 23, Murwillumbah Services Club

Mullumbimby: Tuesday May 24, Mullumbimby Ex-Service Club

Lismore: Wednesday May 25, Southern Cross University Lismore campus auditorium

Grafton: Tuesday May 31, Grafton District Services Club

Casino: Wednesday June 1, Casino RSM Club

Lennox Heads: Thursday June 2, Lennox Heads Cultural Centre auditorium.

Bookings essential: insurancecouncil.com.au/NorthernRiversFloods.