Humanitarian crisis grips Lismore as Mick Fanning calls to Elon Musk answered for help for victims
Surf legend Mick Fanning’s calls for tech billionaire Elon Musk to intervene in the northern NSW flood disaster have been answered – with a little help from Thor.
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Surf legend Mick Fanning’s calls for tech billionaire Elon Musk to intervene in the northern NSW flood disaster have been answered – with a little help from Thor.
Internet and telecommunications access will be restored to parts of the devastated Northern Rivers on Tuesday morning, with Brisbane-based company Netvault donating 10 SpaceX Starlink devices.
Mr Fanning this week called for Starlink to be introduced to the disaster zone through an impassioned tweet, as the region and its devastated residents face a “humanitarian crisis”.
Instead, it was Thor himself Chris Hemsworth who answered the call: “It was pretty wild, I got asked to throw out a tweet and I didn’t even know how to use Twitter at that point,” Mr Fanning laughed.
“The tweet went out in the morning and I got a message from Chris that basically said he had an email going right now and that’s sort of how it happened.”
“(His) agent knew one of the major bosses at Starlink and he put me in touch with her.
“If it wasn’t for Chris and Chris’s agent finding someone we probably wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.”
Starlink’s Julia DeWahl facilitated the good deed, ultimately resulting in 10 terminals being deployed to the Northern Rivers in a matter of days.
“I can’t take any credit, it’s more the people that put me in touch. Julia and the crew were incredible too, I can’t say enough good words about her, the team and the business,” Mr Fanning said.
Netvault senior consultant Radek Tkaczyk visited the region on Tuesday to donate 10 of the terminals to some of the worst-affected areas.`
“These Starlink terminals provide internet connections that are 10 times faster than what you can get with NBN satellite service, so it will be of huge benefit to those people in crisis centres,” Mr Tkaczyk said.
The terminals will allow emergency workers and isolated residents to communicate with the outside world for the first time in nine days.
Asked whether StarLink should introduce protocol to intervene without being called up, he said: “It shouldn’t be up to the private sector and the general public to have to resort to tweeting to Elon Musk for assistance.”
“It will be up to Mick Fanning and his team as to how to permanently allocate homes for these dishes, but we’ll be working with them to facilitate that,” Mr Tkacyzk said.
EARLIER, MARCH 8: Surf legend Mick Fanning’s calls for tech billionaire Elon Musk to intervene in the northern NSW flood disaster have been answered.
Internet and telecommunications access will be resorted to parts of the Northern Rivers on Tuesday morning, with a Brisbane-based company donating some of Mr Musk’s Starlink devices.
Mr Fanning had called for Starlink to be brought in on Sunday as the region faces a “humanitarian crisis”.
Netvault will place 10 of the decisions in some of the worst-affected areas which will allow residents and first responders to communicate with the outside world for the first time in nine days.
It comes as a “humanitarian crisis” is gripping northern NSW, with thousands without power, food or telecommunications a week after devastating flooding hit – with bipartisan calls for intervention.
Punch-drunk Northern Rivers residents last night braced for more downpours and potential flash-flooding, with up to 25mm of rain tipped by Monday.
Political leaders from Labor and the Coalition have pleaded for greater intervention from the state and federal governments, saying the region’s been “forgotten”.
State Tweed MP Geoff Provest and federal Labor MP Justine Elliott have spent a week on flood clean-up and both warned more than 50,000 were:
* Without, shelter, food, power or telecoms access;
* Without money, with ATMs destroyed, banks closed and disaster relief payments only accessible via the internet.
* A mental health crisis among exhausted locals who’ve lost everything.
The federal government has defended its response, insisting it had committed more than $1bn to recovery but Mr Provest said it was critical communications be restored to allow residents to access it.
“The telecommunications situation is dismal and there are a lot of servos which are demanding cash, but nobody can get it,” he said.
“The council has been excellent, the volunteers have been out of this world and the mud army but the lack of a central organiser for the response has been tough – I keep running into people in the street who want to know where to go to help and I have to tell them I don’t know.
“I’ve been through a few of these floods but this is by far the worst.”
Much of Lismore’s CBD has been gutted, with receding floodwaters rendering most of its buildings uninhabitable.
Its local library has been forced to throw out its entire water-damaged stock while the town’s bowling alley will never reopen, with owners revealing repairing its wooden structure to be cost prohibitive.
More than 650 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel are on the ground in the Northern Rivers with more on the way.
Ms Elliott said thousands were in “third-world conditions and pleaded for more troops and immediately restored communications and power.
“It is just devastating. We still have thousands who cannot access food, water or shelter,” she said.
“It is not right we have been left in third-world conditions like this. It’s just creating a humanitarian crisis.
“We have been forgotten.”
Emergency Management Minister Senator Bridget McKenzie did not respond to questions asked by the Bulletin on Sunday but Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s office last night insisted the government had not abandoned the region.
A spokesman for Mr Morrison said more than $1bn had been committed to flood recovery.
“$133m in emergency payments have already been paid out to residents in Queensland and New South Wales in the last week,” he said.
“(On Saturday) we announced a $558.5m jointly funded package, which will include primary producer grants of up to $75,000, $50,000 for affected small businesses and not for profit organisations, as well as $20,000 for sporting and community clubs who have been hit hard.
“The Prime Minister has been in regular contact with both the NSW and Queensland premiers and the federal government will continue to support the recovery every step of the way.”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet visited hard-hit Coraki to speak to locals on Sunday after he revealed an extra 900 ADF personnel were being deployed amid anger from some locals who say they feel overlooked.
Mr Perrottet said more people in uniform were hitting the ground.
“We’re on the ground, we’ve got the ADF in, the RFS, it’s going to be a tough journey, but we’re going to get it done,” he said.
“(It’s) incredibly pleasing for me to see the RFS in here, driving through Lismore and seeing more boots on the ground … it certainly fills me with confidence.
‘Humanitarian crisis’: Fanning pleas for Musk to save flood victims
Earlier: Surfing world champion Mick Fanning has pleaded for tech billionaire Elon Musk to intervene in the “humanitarian crisis” of flood-ravaged northern NSW.
Mr Fanning, who has been helping flood affected residents for the past week, has asked the Tesla boss to use his SpaceX Starlink satellite network to provide internet and telecommunications coverage to the region. Large sections of it are still without power a week after the deadly downpours.
“We need help with the flood disaster in NSW, Australia,” he tweeted.
“The people have no means of communication and really need your help! Can you help us with Starlink? How can we make it happen?”
Tweed state MP Geoff Provest welcomed Mr Fanning’s advocacy and said it was critical for the region to get help.
“That would really help if they are able to do that, I hear they were trying to use Starlink to help in Ukraine in recent days,” he said.
“Anything to restore communications would be much needed.
“I think (the federal response) should be stepped up because right now the telecommunications is dismal – people cannot get cash out of ATM because they have been destroyed and they cannot apply for disaster relief funding because they cannot get online.”
Starlink was used to provide internet access in the Ukrainian war zone during the ongoing fighting, however, its signal has been jammed by Russian forces.
Federal Richmond MP Justine Elliott warned the Northern Rivers faced a humanitarian crisis.
“It is just devastating. We still have thousands of people who cannot access food, water or shelter,” she said.
“It is not right that we have been left in third-world conditions like this. It’s just creating a humanitarian crisis.”
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