Supermarket staff rescue fellow locals, feed evacuees and rally relief after NSW, QLD floods

Efforts to feed flood victims have thrust supermarket workers back on to the emergency frontline as some lose everything.

Frantic efforts to feed flood victims in NSW and Queensland have thrust supermarket workers in multiple states back on to the emergency frontline, battling severe site damage, stock losses and access issues to rally around communities who have lost everything.

Coles Lismore store manager Cheryl Muirhead said water inside the supermarket rose 2.5m higher than last time.

“I have staff who were helping with rescues and evacuations … they were on boats and helping people get out of their houses,” she said.

“I’ve got 17 team members who have lost everything, but across our region there’s over 70. We’ve team members having other team members coming and living with them – (one) had 25 people in her house at one point.

“They’ve been getting together to clean houses, to make sure people aren’t on their own, sorting things out – it’s just been amazing to see.”

Ms Muirhead said disposing of contaminated stock was “absolutely heartbreaking” when locals “don’t have anything”.

Total destruction: Coles Lismore after the flood and what remains of the supermarket's devastated interior. Picture: Renae Droop/RDW Photography

“And there’s a lot of people who are very close … and the store means a lot to them because they’ve worked there for a very long time,” she said. “I didn’t want them to see that devastation either. It’s almost like losing a part of you.”

With the Lismore site closed, Coles made neighbouring Goonellabah a priority store and Ms Muirhead said deliveries there have tripled since the disaster began.

“Casino has also had additional deliveries because there’s a bridge out between Lismore and Casino,” she said.

Thursday the Coles team donated 24 pallets of stock to the community hub at Lismore Showground, as well as team volunteers and the all-important sausage sizzle crews in evacuation centres in Lismore and Ballina.

Coles put on a sausage sizzle in Ballina this week for flood affected residents, emergency crews and volunteers. Picture: supplied

Despite the crisis, the community coming together had lifted the townsfolk’s spirits and Lismore High St was “a hub of energy”, she said.

“It’s just people that are volunteering their time and their expertise,” Ms Muirhead said. “It’s really heartwarming to see it all – it just can’t be put into words. It’s been such a massive effort.”

Indeed, Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci spent last Sunday in Lismore assessing the devastation there and said flood damage had hit hard in both states.

“It pains me to say that more than 100 of our team have lost their homes, and our thoughts are with them and everyone else in the same position,” he said.

Woolworths has supplied more than 27,000 meals so far in support of the Salvation Army's flood disaster relief in NSW and Qld, including in Lismore, pictured. Picture: supplied

Mr Banducci said overcoming distribution logistics was like trying to solve a “Rubik’s cube”.

“We’re currently sending stock all the way from Adelaide to Far North Queensland to get around the train derailment north of Brisbane,” he said.

Last Sunday, Queensland Fire and Emergency services had to airlift 1800 bottles of donated water due to inaccessible roads. A chopper was rapidly enlisted to drop the tonne of Woolworths-supplied emergency drinking water to Kandanga, where Gympie flood victims were sheltering.

To March 9, Woolworths food and drink donations to evacuation and recovery centres have supplied in excess of 27,000 meals – the figures to Wednesday were 12,000 in Qld and 24,838 in NSW.

The national purchase round up at Woolworths registers has also raised in excess of $460,000 nationally, with $180,415 donated in NSW and $122,615 in Qld. All donations go to the Salvation Army flood disaster response. The round up option is live in Woolworths registers nationwide until March 16.

Coles is matching customer donations dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million until March 15, with funds going to the Australian Red Cross Qld and NSW Floods Appeal.

A tonne of Woolworths-donated fresh drinking water had to be delivered by helicopter to people displaced by the Gympie floods in Qld. Pictured are the netball courts, inundated by the Mary River on February 27. Picture: Facebook

Lismore MP Janelle Saffin MP has meanwhile called on the federal government to form a Reconstruction Commission to centralise the disaster response and better support civilians and businesses alike, and said category D assistance should include private as well as public infrastructure.

“Our community is fantastic – they’re doing everything,” Ms Saffin said. “They rescued people, they’re now doing recovery (work).

“But we need more backing from the federal government. They could listen more. We need the federal government, the Prime Minister, to listen.

“My community is suffering. We’ve never experienced anything like this before – this is different. And we’re pulling ourselves up. We don’t want handouts, we want a hand up.”