Northern NSW floods: Perrottet, Minns visit on first anniversary of disaster
The eyes of Australia were on Lismore on Tuesday as Northern NSW marked the first anniversary of floods which bulldozed the region.
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Under poignantly leaden skies, the eyes of a nation were on Lismore tonight as Northern NSW marked the first anniversary of the first of two mega floods which steamrolled the region last year.
It was a surreal scene at Mortimer Oval - NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, Opposition leader Chris Minns, Governor-General David Hurley, and a throng of media.
But it was never about the dignitaries or the messengers, rather the communities who had been at the frontline when the inland tsunami struck.
For many in Lismore, tonight’s service felt ‘too soon’ and scores stayed away as the raw memories and ongoing angst continue to grate.
North Coast residents who by luck or higher ground turned up though in numbers to reflect on those less fortunate, and a community which will be the same again one day, if not yet now.
The crowd included a swarm of politicians from all tiers, and Lismore mayor Steve Krieg was flanked by the premier and governor-general.
Despite the solemnness of the occasion, the service still had that unmistakeable and treasured country vibe, as the air hung heavy with the scent of freshly mown grass and sizzling snags.
Also present were the emergency services, including police, SES and the Australian Defence Force.
Mr Hurley assured Lismore and the Northern Rivers the challenge and hardship are acknowledged.
“The community heals as individuals, and the community grows and heals together,” he said.
“Through bushfires, floods and drought I have seen some of the best qualities of people you could hope to see in our country.”
Mr Hurley said there was something special and different about Lismore compared to other disaster-hit communities.
“I see a community that (put its) hand up collectively when it was under stress and got itself through it and it is going exactly the same now as it tries to recover,” he said.
“You to me exhibit a level of compassion for each other that you don’t often see.”
Sobering day
In a lunchtime visit to the village of Tumbulgum, Mr Minns was made keenly aware by locals of the ferocity of the wall of water.
“It’s a sobering day for the Northern Rivers - many people are still out of their accommodation,” Mr Minns said.
The Labor leader’s visit saw a pledge to pump $3.3 million into advance early warning systems for flood in the Northern Rivers should the Opposition win the March 25 state election.
“We don’t want to see local families and businesses rely on a local Facebook groups (for emergency information),” Mr Minns said.
Tumbulgum resident Tony Snellgrove was away when the flood hit - when his then 19-year-old son and their dog Mindy had to flee for their lives.
“My son Ben rang me and said ‘dad you better get home, the house is under water’,” Mr Snellgrove recalled.
“It’s a sad time (the anniversary) ... we’re a village, everyone helps each other out.
“For a lot of people there’s a long way to go … the insurance claims are taking a long time to go through.”
The flood impacted homes across Tumbulgum, while the pub was badly damaged as was the town’s general store, which remains closed.
Tweed Labor candidate Craig Elliot called it a “flood event like no other”.
“The hurt, the harm continues. (But) we are a strong community and we’ll work together towards healing,” Mr Elliot said.
Mayor sobs
Mayor Chris Cherry sobbed as she placed a flower in the Tweed River today at a commemoration ceremony at Skinners Lowes Wharf, Murwillumbah.
Members of the community were invited to make peace with the river, the first of many special events held across the Tweed.
Ms Cherry said it has been an “incredibly tough time” to lead the community.
“To come on the back of the border closures, it’s kind of like we’ve come off one crisis straight to the next,” she said.
“Today we’re trying to capture letting go of some of that pain and looking forward to the hope of the future and re-embracing this incredible river that connects us.
“There’s a healing that we need to do, each of us, and that’s a personal thing.”
Resident Jasmine dos Remedios said the river service was needed.
“It’s just the memories and they need to be written … we need to be reminded on how community came together,” she said.
Fellow local Natalie Grandy agreed: “You’ll find that the community has been banding together for the whole year”.
Tired, exhausted ... numb
“I am tired, exhausted, and even attending any activities to mark the flood ... I’m not sure how I will respond, so I’m staying home mostly,” said Lismore’s Marion Conrow.
“I’m not sure if I know how I feel - a bit numb.
“It’s been a year and not much has happened except my neighbours’ houses have been demolished.
“I’ve been contacted about a buyback but am unsure what that will mean and where I will end up living.
“My home is still contaminated. No resolution yet.
“Many of us are still in survival mode, emotions suppressed - until we are safe.”
Future begins now
For some Lismore residents, the first anniversary is a tale of emergence.
“I don’t see any point in celebrating a disaster,” Matthew Healy from Daleys homewares on Keen St said.
“There is a real positive energy here, Keen Street, dream street - there are hardly any shops vacant in Keen St now.
“It’s not doom and gloom.”
Recovery ‘will never be quick enough’
Local federal MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, has conceded the flood recovery work has been wanting in part.
“House buybacks and land swaps are taking too long. The slower this is, means fewer people will take these options up,” The Nationals member said.
“Some people are already selling their homes which means they won’t qualify. Others are putting money back into fixing their homes, so will be less willing to take up the buyback offer.
“It’s been a traumatic year for our community. We were hit with Australia’s biggest ever natural disaster which means it will be a long road to recovery. With a disaster on such a large scale, unfortunately the recovery will never be quick enough.”
Mr Hogan said lessons must be taken from the 2022 floods.
“The CSIRO will report back major recommendations in early 2024. Some early engineering solutions mentioned were large retention basins in the upper catchments. This could potentially take up to two metres off a flood.”
Premier in Lismore
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Opposition leader Chris Minns moved through communities raw on the first anniversary of the first flood.
Emotions were running high, especially at a Reflection & Healing Service at Lismore’s Mortimer Oval from 6-7.30pm which both leaders attended.
A private ceremony was also held this evening, to acknowledge the ‘Tinny Brigade’ - more than 400 community members who selflessly risked their own lives to save thousands of their fellow residents.
“A lot of them are not ready to face up to what they actually achieved and they are still dealing with their own personal demons,” Lismore mayor Steve Krieg said of the behind-closed-doors ceremony.
“It shows me the level of, for want of a better word, trauma, that is still in the community,” Mr Krieg said.
“We want to honour them and recognise them in a private setting out of respect for them, as many are not ready to speak publicly about it.”
Governor-General David Hurley paid tribute to the Tinny Brigade.
“I want to begin my remarks by extending our sympathies to the families of those who lost their lives in the floods. I appreciate that the first anniversary will be a difficult time for those families and they are foremost in our thoughts,” Mr Hurley said.
“Today, however, we shine a light on the wonderful ‘Boaties’. We acknowledge the important role they played during the floods and we thank them. In tipping our hats to them and recognising their contribution, we acknowledge the support they received from their families.”
“They’re (tinny brigade) very humbled and grateful to be recognised, but that’s not why they jumped in their boats and on their jet skis.
“It was just pure need and thank god they did," Mr Krieg said.
Twelve months on from the first of two catastrophic floods to sweep Northern NSW, local residents remain frustrated - believing the rebuild of homes and lives has come too little, too late.
Lismore CBD a husk
Alex Coronakes, owner of fruit shop Tropicana is “born and bred” in Lismore, and has been in town for 74 years.
He said government support of local businesses helped him reopen.
“The government departments haven’t made it easy, but then again, they can’t make it easy I suppose, for the simple reason people were ripping the system off,” Mr Coronakes said.
“We had some assistance out of the government - it wasn’t easy to get - but if we hadn’t have gotten it I wouldn’t have reopened.
He said the CBD is a shell of its former self.
“Molesworth St which was the main street in the ’60s is now deserted,” he said.
Hundreds of businesses have either left Lismore or never reopened, rendering the entire local economy stagnant.
“People need to have a reason to come and shop,” Mr Coronakes said.
‘This time last year there was already a metre of water’
“Today is a very emotional day, this week has been very hard,” East Lismore resident Crystal Lenane said.
“I feel very overwhelmed and trying to take care of myself by taking time off work.
“Last night as we sat in our makeshift home under our home ... my husband turned to me, and said, this time last year there was already a metre of water here.
“I said to him I am trying not to think about it.”
Tinny brigade heroes
Former Australian Armed Forces major, Alex Rubin, was at the “water’s edge” this time last year, hauling people ashore from rescue boats.
He was the operation commander of the Army’s first response from Taree to the Tweed.
Mr Rubin said the spontaneous responders who went into the eye of the storm without professional training are the ones who need to be honoured today.
“You can see where the community actually comes together. And you see the best qualities of mankind in an emergency where personal differences are put aside,” he said.
“The tinny brigade basically saved people’s lives. We’d have had a lot more deaths from the floods if they had not been selfless and gone out into harm’s way to rescue people.”
‘We can’t rewrite history’
The mental health toll in the wake of the back-to-back inundations remains severe in towns across the North Coast.
“It’s important that we take the time and the day to reflect on what’s happened,” Mr Krieg said.
“We can’t rewrite history or change the events of 12 months ago, but it’s important as well as we look forward and hopefully have the opportunity to build a better and brighter Lismore.”
A just released report by The Climate Council has found more than 80 per cent of Australians have experienced a disaster in the past five years.
Of those, half said they’d experienced a mental health issue as a result.
The study of 2508 people included direct testimony from Lismore and Northern NSW residents and hundreds of people who’d experienced disasters from across the country.
Lismore City councillor and managing director of Resilient Lismore, Elly Bird, said Northern Rivers communities are experiencing “a collective trauma”.
“People simply cannot navigate day to day. We’re exhausted,” Ms Bird said.
“And while we continue to rebuild and may well achieve some type of ‘normal’, it is abundantly clear that the mental health repercussions will be with us for a very long time.”
Ms Bird said parents, children and people still displaced or grappling with being unable to afford insurance or those who’ve had their claims refused, were particularly affected.
“As a society we need to have serious conversations about the sting in the tail of climate disasters: About the mental health fall out - not just here in Lismore - but all around the country,” she said.
According to the ‘Climate Trauma’ report, people living in rural and regional areas were significantly more likely to have been affected by flooding at least once since 2019 (61 per cent versus 38 per cent in cities), and bushfires (49 per cent versus 36 per cent).
Country people had found it harder to access mental health support and were more likely to say state emergency services and state governments were poorly equipped to deal with climate disasters.
Tears of hope in the Tweed
Australian Red Cross this morning released a flood report to commemorate one year since the Tweed Valley went under.
At the same time a community message board in the shape of ‘tear drops’ was revealed - a place in the Tweed Shire auditorium where residents can share their memories, and reflect.
Red Cross general manager Celeste Hartman is local and experienced the floods first hand.
“I was trailing through the social media post last night of the community sharing the reflections on where they are,” Ms Hartman said.
“Everyone is at different stages on how they’re feeling and where they’re at, but there’s a general feeling of optimism in most of that.”
Red Cross chief of staff Penny Harrison said the report marked a “signal of resilience and humanity”.
“Through our flood appeal we raised $55.6 million - funds (which) come directly into community,” Ms Harrison said.
Lismore MP Janelle Saffin said the charity’s push in the wake of the disaster must be celebrated.
“The Red Cross is part of our culture, they are truly global and truly local,” Ms Saffin said.
“We need to reimagine our communities in a transformative adaptive way.”
Tweed Shire mayor Chris Cherry: “What we’ve got to build is so much inside us, and the community that we have.”
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