Sydney wild weather: Baird promises cash aid for northern beaches storm victims
Premier Mike Baird saw the devastating destruction caused by the storm at the weekend and pledged financial help for the victims.
Nth Beaches
Don't miss out on the headlines from Nth Beaches. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A SLICE of cash to help northern beaches communities clean up and rebuild after the storm “carnage” is likely to be announced in the next few days.
Premier Mike Baird visited Narrabeen and Collaroy to see the damage caused on Sunday, when wild weather saw 700 people evacuated and chunks of beachfront homes, businesses and other buildings washed away.
And the worst is not over — weather experts predicted last night’s king tide was set to cause more damage to beachfront homes and businesses already hit.
The Manly MP said he’s fast-tracking declaration of emergencies which will unlock money including grants and loans.
It sees a special fund unlocked if the damage bill to public assets in a council area top $240,000.
“I can assure you in terms of providing support, we are fast tracking the emergency declaration,” Mr Baird said.
“We’re doing everything with local councils on the ground to assess the damages. We’ll then proceed to get that signed off.
“When that does come through it will provide support to both communities, individuals and businesses, community groups.”
MP David Elliot, Minister for Emergency Services said early indications from the Insurance Council of Australia put the cost statewide at $30 million — but that was likely to rise.
Meanwhile, the residents of Narrabeen and Collaroy who were evacuated were allowed to go back to their homes at 3pm yesterday.
And the boss of the Collaroy club shattered by pounding waves during the ferocious storm, said he hopes to partly reopen today — despite a huge hole in the keg room.
Chief executive of The Beach Club, Robert McConnell, said engineers were due to assess the damage yesterday afternoon.
Dramatic pictures of the balcony of the club hanging over the edge attracted hundreds of locals to the beach.
Mr McConnell said: “The keg room, there’s a big hole where you can see the waves come in. It’s taken out the top balcony; all the vertical supports have been taken away.
“At 10 o’clock the waves were towering over the building. She’s 100 years old. We’ve just got to put her together again.”
Cafe owner Tarek Ibrahim, who runs Sloppy Tees at the front of the Beach Club building said: “It was like a tsunami. Concrete pillars were moved by the water”.
The Collaroy next door also saw its beachfront cafe, Pelican Pavilion, closed until Friday.
The clean-up is well under way at Collaroy Surf Club, which saw its storage area’s metal doors smashed in by the tide, with the water 2ft high. Nippers boss Daryl Gilmartin, said: “I can only remember 15 years ago it coming up to the steps.”
Meanwhile, the family home of former Manly Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler was also victim to the storm.
Hasler’s home in Collaroy saw its front yard flooded and picket fence destroyed.
Christine Hasler told the Manly Daily she was counting her blessings: “We are very lucky,” she said.
Vaccine rollout: The number of people jabbed in your suburb
617k jabs issued this week: How many people are vaccinated; where you can get jabbed and how many cases are in your community. Here’s everything you need to know about Covid.
Suburb’s 500 weekly cases: NSW’s Covid numbers by postcode
Sharp weekly spikes in Sydney suburbs reveal the harsh truth of Covid in some areas, with one postcode reporting almost 500 cases in a week. See the full breakdown.