Lismore floods: ‘Has the SES failed in their duties? Has the government?’

Some Lismore residents say not enough SES rescue boats were deployed and the promised helicopter aid never came as floods gripped northern NSW yesterday.

An aerial shots of flooding at Lismore taken by the RACQ Life Flight helicopter. Picture: Supplied

Local Lismore residents launched a makeshift flotilla of rescue boats on Monday to save people trapped in record-breaking floods, despite local SES warnings to stay away.

Reports of hundreds of people, including children and the elderly, stranded on their rooftops came in as the Wilson River in Lismore smashed flood records not seen 1954, recording 14.2 metres at around 2pm on Monday.

Local residents in Lismore said on Monday that not enough SES rescue boats had been deployed by the afternoon, the promised helicopter aid was non-operational due to weather conditions and Lismore SES was actively deterring willing boaties from entering flood zones.

But a group of residents – including Angus Curnow, 31 – had already begun search and rescue operations of their own.

“I was looking to help,” he said.

Mr Curnow noticed a group of locals forming their own water rescue team, using small tinnies and leisure boats to ferry stranded people to safety. On Facebook a ‘Resilient Lismore’ page was exploding with frantic outcries for help, posting addresses, phone numbers and the number of people needing rescue.

Bruxner Highway ‘Ballina Road’ floods in Lismore.

“I was helping a few people evacuate and I noticed that there was a movement on Facebook so I put my name out there too,” he said.

Mr Curnow, despite no prior experience, quickly became part of a budding group of people establishing and co-ordinating search and rescues from the ground, directing people in self-owned boats on how to rescue people.

“[We] organised to make sure specific people in specific houses were accounted for,” he said.

“We made sure that when rescuers attend to them, that they cut off their engines, called out for [the stranded people] and see if they respond – and making sure that the people in the boats wait a little bit at the residences just in case they needed to swim out from underneath their doors. That sort of thing.”

While some co-ordinated communication and others navigated boats, for Richard Clarke, 53, diving into flood waters was the best way to rescue a fellow resident.

“I helped an 83-year-old man, his son was saying he was in one of the houses, so I swam across there and grabbed him,” he said.

“He was just sitting there in his lounge on a chair, saying ‘I’ve got nothing to live for so I might as well,’ – yeah. So I said come on mate we gotta go.”

Despite Mr Clarke’s own old age, he had woken up early to start help with rescue efforts at 4:30am and helped other elderly residents, kids and families make their way off the boats and into the evacuation centre.

Mr Clarke said it was the least he and his young kids could do for the community.

“I stayed there as long as I could. And, you know, the people, they just needed the help and we were there to help,” Mr Clarke said.

“ I have my boys, a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old, I was so proud of them to do things like that and to help out where needed. And they were there for hours and hours until SES came along.”

Mr Curnow said the helicopter aid announced by NSW State Commissioner for the SES Carlene York earlier that morning had only started operating by 3:30pm. By that time, Mr Curnow had co-ordinated over 50 search and rescues and Mr Clarke had received up to 100.

“That‘s the scope really isn’t it? Has the SES failed in their duties? Has the government? Or has the council failed in their duties by calling the evacuations too late?,” Mr Curnow asks.

While residents say that the SES had called for residents to help search and rescues at 6am, by 8am the Lismore SES had posted to Facebook actively deterring willing residents from helping in flood zones.