Everyone still a little raw six months on from the flood

The Northern Star will publish a special feature next Saturday six months on from the flood: Opinion

The only way to get around in the floods. Picture: Marc Stapelberg

NEARLY six months on from the floods which devastated the Northern Rivers, we are about to find out how the region is coping.

The Northern Star will publish a four-page lift-out next Saturday on the flood aftermath.

What we do know is there are still something like 40 families homeless after the events of the March 31 flood.

Social Futures say there are 23 families alone in Lismore and the rest from Murwillumbah who are yet to find a permanent home following the trail of destruction Cyclone Debbie left six months ago.

While many businesses are back on their feet and running successfully post-flood, others continue to struggle.

One business owner, who wrote a letter to the editor on the subject this week, suggested the good will that existed in the immediate aftermath of the floods had long since evaporated.

The Lismore CBD business owner, who wanted to remain anonymous, described how the community had begun to treat the retailers with "disregard, disrespect and an off handedness".

Other customers had complained openly about the "smell" of the shop and some others had come in asking for a discount on goods because they had read the business had been flooded out.

Six months on from the floods there has been several reviews and reports, but how many of these recommendations have been actioned?

And there are still many questions to be answered: Are we going to build a higher levee? Is it going to be mandatory for businesses and homes to file a flood evacuation plan?

There's also an enormous backlog of work that needs to be carried out on road repairs and councils are never going to be able to meet those costs.

If you have photos of the March 31 flood we'd like you to send them to [e-mail] for us to publish in this flood special.