NSW floods: Angel Flight rallies pilots to help North Coast
A Lismore pilot who helped to rescue locals even as his planes were being hit by floodwater has contributed to the relief effort in another way.
Lismore
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When the most destructive flood in history hit Lismore last week, Peter Martin’s two aeroplanes were on the safest ground available.
But with water exceeding the previous record by more than two metres, they had little hope.
The pilot had his aircraft at Lismore Airport, one of many facilities struck hard by the flood.
Mr Martin, who sees this material loss as minimal compared to what many have experienced, was also at the frontline of flood rescues in his community.
“When the floods were at their peak, the SES basically needed as many boats as possible so I volunteered in a runabout,” he said.
“We managed to rescue a significant amount of people off their rooftops and out of attics and wherever else we could find them.”
The airport was completely inundated.
“There’s been preparations out there for many years to allow aircraft to be parked in a safe place but with an extra two metres of water, it just meant the water went through everything,” he said.
Mr Martin was helping in another way by Tuesday; as an Angel Flight volunteer, he took part in getting crucial supplies – flown to Ballina from Archerfield and Bankstown – into Lismore by road.
“We’re going to take it over to Lismore Showground,” he said.
The flood’s severe and wide-reaching impact has left many in need.
“At the moment it’s just total devastation,” he said.
“I’ve been up here for a while and I’ve seen quite a few floods but this is beyond the pale.
“People have lost lives, they’ve lost their pets, a lot of people have lost their homes.
“There’s a lot of pain out there and a lot of healing and it’s going to be very slow and very difficult.”
Angel Flight CEO Marjorie Pagini said while a total of 12 aircraft were involved, many were delayed in Sydney on Tuesday morning after the severe weather moved south.
She said baby formula tins, drinking water, long life milk, pet food, cleaning supplies and socks and jocks has been called for along with a range of tinned food.
“This is what our volunteers are like; whenever we put the call out for help … a lot of pilots will just put their hands up,” she said.
“Whenever we need help, we don't have to ask twice.”
Darrell Campbell, a volunteer pilot, flew in from Bankstown on Tuesday morning.
Mr Campbell has completed 298 missions across more than a decade with the charity.
His employer played a big role in helping to boost supplies for this trip.
“I work for a club; I’m one of the managers of the club so I went to the COO and said what can we do?” he said.
“He gave me $6000 and we spent that on nappies and baby food and organised a couple of planes.”
He said while not everyone was quick to lend a hand, there had still been a pleasing response.
“I went to half a dozen supermarkets and they were really not interested at all, because we’re after everything in boxes so they can go into planes,” he said.
“Most of them told us to go away.
“At the same time, there were two women who just heard the conversation and came and donated money towards it and they had nothing to do with any of it.”
Mr Campbell flew up with about 400kg of goods while a plane from Archerfield brought a ton of items on Tuesday.
Weather permitting, plenty more is on the way.
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