The community members focused on failures:inadequate flood watch warnings,a breakdown of emergency response,a collapse of essential telecommunications and the feeling that they were abandoned for days by state and federal leaders.
When authorities failed to provide adequate flood relief to the besieged Northern Rivers,a consortium of anti-government activists stepped into the void. Aussie Helping Hands raised almost half a million dollars in a few weeks – as well as questions about its legitimacy.
The reconstruction of flood-ravaged communities in northern NSW will be led by a new corporation,with powers to compulsorily acquire or subdivide land and accelerate the delivery of planning proposals.
Resilience NSW boss Shane Fitzsimmons has rejected assertions the government “dropped the ball” in dealing with floods in the state’s north.
South-facing beaches such as Bondi copped the brunt of the swell on Saturday.
Police have found a body of a woman they believe is that of Anita Brakel,55,who went missing in floodwaters on Tuesday.
Sandy Graham lost everything in the February floods,including her family photos. When the rains came for a second time,there wasn’t anything else to lose.
Byron Bay’s main street would usually be bustling with holidaymakers. But now the street is deserted as water inundated shops and offices.
The flood-ravaged city of Lismore has been evacuated and Byron Bay’s main street is under water following more drenching rain in northern NSW.
Floodwater is again running through the main streets of Lismore,following a water bomb rain event overnight that also inundated Byron Bay,Ballina and other Northern Rivers towns.
Under pitiless grey skies and with floodwaters rising again,the Northern Rivers of NSW now feels like the front line of the climate catastrophe.