Lismore flood victims forced to live in ruined homes as they wait for help
Almost two months since the state’s devastating floods, Lismore flood victims are being forced to live in their ruined houses as they wait for slow-moving assistance.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Jahnaya Mumford stands in what was once her baby’s beautifully decked-out nursery. There are no walls in the home, and it is not yet liveable, but she plans to move back in with her three children in just two weeks.
She is sick of paying $350 a week on the mortgage and $500 a week for rent – too much for her and her partner while on maternity leave from her hospital cleaner job.
Apart from the initial $3000 flood emergency help, the only aid she has received to get back to her Casino St, Lismore home is from crowd-funding money organised by her brother and friends. Lining the ruined house inside will cost $15,000 without labour.
“Hopefully, I’ll be moving back in two weeks, without a kitchen but with power and hot water,” the 32-year-old said.
She’ll make do with a barbecue on the back deck and a plug-in frying pan.
“I haven’t got the money for a kitchen,” she said.
But what about the promised $20,000 back-to-home grants? It was revealed on Thursday that only 125 of the 5900 applicants had been processed. Premier Dominic Perrottet admitted last week that only one in 10 applications for help from flood victims has been granted.
Almost two months on from the most devastating floods to hit northern NSW, the people of Lismore are moving back into shells of homes, camping within stripped walls because they have nowhere else to go.
There are no rentals, grant applications are painfully slow, promised emergency accommodation has not materialised and insurance companies are taking too long to deliver inevitable bad news.
Ms Mumford, whose baby son was delivered early after her dramatic rooftop rescue at 38 weeks pregnant, says the red tape means she has to wait for her insurance company to officially knock her back before she can apply for the grant.
“No one is getting back to me. I’ve also applied for the accommodation housing and still haven’t heard back,” she said.
“And now they are talking about those pods, but who is even getting their name on the list. I have not heard anything from anyone.”
So she is heading back home.
Down the road, Liz Swift still has mouldy plaster walls to remove.
The kitchen has been stripped and the eastern wall of her house is pushed out from the floor because of the force of the water – but she has set up space in the lounge room as a “camp site”. For almost eight weeks, she had been couch surfing with friends and family.
“I call it glamping,” she says.
“I’m working on the $20,000, but at this stage I’ve just had the three $1000 payments, so I’ve been living off that.”
Ms Swift’s job at her brother’s seafood shop was also affected as it, too, was flooded and they are trying to work out of the back of a van.
“Lots have moved back in because there is nowhere else to go, really. It is hard not having a home to go to,” she said.
“I need a new kitchen and bathroom. It’s going to cost me a lot more than I can afford, but I’m lucky my Dad and brother are builders.
“But Dad has lost his house and Michael has lost the business, so it is one day at a time. I feel overwhelmed by the amount of work required.”
Further along Casino St, Clive Tressider and partner Debbie Grant sit on their balcony.
Like most on this street in South Lismore, Mr Tressider was not insured for floods. “Who can afford flood insurance? It’s over $10,000 a year and I’m a pensioner, ” Mr Tressider said.
Like his neighbour Liz Swift, Mr Tressider and Ms Grant are living in his lounge room, with a bed and a TV.
The couple keep themselves afloat with a positive attitude.
“Most of the damage is cosmetic, and all the stuff we lost is just stuff – it’s replaceable. We paid for contents insurance but it’s not covered for flood,” Mr Tressider said.
He also has to wait for the official knock-back from the insurance company before he can apply for the $20,000 back-to-home grant.
Harley King, wife Marnie and their children Jax, 3, and Jayla, 13, also moved back in two weeks ago.
Mr King is a plasterer, so the relining of the house has been at his own expense. Before that, they were cramped in their caravan.
“We bought 15 months ago, but flood insurance was unaffordable. We were quoted $22,000 a year,” he said.
To make matters worse, Mr King caught Covid-19 and is living back in the caravan, away from the family. He says they will stay a few years, but he plans to sell.
“I don’t want to do this again,” Mr King said.
Over on Cromer St, Chris Martin, wife Carlie and sons Bailey, 19, and Declan, 16, and their dog are living in the back shed. It has been decked out with donated furniture.
“We chose to live in the shed,” Mr Martin said.
“There’s no housing available, and in the first six weeks we moved six times, so we decked out the shed with donated furniture.”
Mr Martin’s work to repair their home is a race against the clock – Lismore in winter can be freezing.
And, again, it’s the same story.
“We can’t apply for the $20,000 until we are officially knocked back by insurance,” he says.
Margaret Beddoes, 74, sits in her shell of a home, stripped of the physical memories of almost five decades. February’s flood was the first she has endured that actually came inside the second level of her home. She still thought she’d be okay until the dining table she had taken refuge on started to float.
“I’ve lost everything, but I have to dust off and make do,” she says.
“I’ve got to make do because I can’t afford another house. I’ve got to come back to it because this is where all my memories are.”
The great-grandmother is staying with her daughter, but she is itching to get back to her own space.
“Once I’ve got a kitchen and bathroom, I can move in – and the electricity. I don’t care about the walls, as I can just put sheets up.
Her daughter, Vicky, says: “Insurance knocked us back two weeks ago.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Lismore flood victims forced to live in ruined homes as they wait for help
FOLLOW LIVE: Social media age ban ‘not unworkable’: Minns
A team of social media avengers are assembling in a first-of-its-kind summit to combat the growing dangers teens face online. Follow the social media summit LIVE.
‘When will our good karma come?’: Teen’s heartbreaking saga
A 14-year-old girl has revealed her heartache after she missed school for months due to severe bullying. Now, the teen faces eviction from her family home, along with her mum and brother.