Family's fight to save destroyed caravan park prompts Aussie tourism warning

Yahoo

2 days ago

With the rain pelting on his back and a torch in one hand, Bren Abbott-Hammel waded through the deep floodwaters at his family's caravan park late on Thursday night last week, banging on vans and urging those still inside to evacuate. In a scene that was all too familiar, the Weeroona Holiday Park in Manning Point, on NSW's Mid North Coast, was underwater for the second time in a little over four years.
While the majority of the park's 24 permanent residents, short-stay visitors and campers had already fled the area, a few people appeared to be 'in a little bit of denial' about facing another emergency given the 'close time frame' between the catastrophic flooding events.
'There were some people that didn't hear me, and around 2.30am I got a phone call from a lady who was woken up by the water hitting her in bed,' he told Yahoo News. 'I walked and swam down to her and then carried her out with a couple of bags and whatnot.'
Tragically, many of those who call the caravan park home had 'only recently' recovered from the 2021 flood, only to have to start from scratch once again.
'They finally got their place set up after chipping away at it for the last four years, and then it's just happened again, and all that hard work and sacrifice and saving money just gets ripped away,' Abbott-Hammel, whose parents took over Weeroona in 2023, said, noting the heartbreaking loss of sentimental items such as photos.
'All the vans are 100 per cent uninhabitable at the moment, and all the campgrounds are completely useless to the point of the power being cut off.'
While recovery efforts began after the water started to recede on Saturday, it could take months before the caravan park returns to normal, leaving Abbott-Hammel pondering the effect of Australia's natural disasters on the tourism industry.
'The weather has become more extreme, so what does that mean for tourism-related businesses? I'm sure there's other industries impacted but for us it's less than ideal,' he said.
The Aussie admitted he has had several conversations with family members about the 'direct loss of revenue' and the 'definite possibility' of the flood zone's reputation putting people off visiting.
'It's a concern, and I have seen it before,' he told Yahoo, explaining that several campers decided to leave early in April after a predicted 60mm of rainfall. 'And you don't get to measure the people who don't come because they are afraid.'
The damage caused to the roads could also deter travellers, given they are often hauling a $100,000 to $150,000 caravan with them.
Hypothetically, if Weeroona Holiday Park was unable to recover from last week's floods, which also claimed the lives of five people, the other small businesses in the area would also suffer, Abbott-Hammel said.
'The general store, they will struggle. The bowls club, I assume they would lose 20 to 30 per cent of their business.' And he's not the only one with concerns.
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NSW's Mid-North Coast has experienced back-to-back extreme weather events in the last few years and communities are suffering the consequences 'again and again', Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said this week, pointing the finger at what she said is the 'root cause" — "pollution from coal, oil and gas'.
'It is critical that we understand that such disasters are no longer simply 'natural',' she said.
The increasing frequency and severity of such events means residents are facing successive disasters with little time in between to recover, which could ultimately hurt the country's tourism industry in the long run.
'The impact of climate change has had devastating impacts on tourism businesses all over the country and over time, it has caused people to close their doors,' Dr Heather Downey told Yahoo. Repeatedly cleaning up and dealing with insurance companies and various government agencies, as well as the 'emotional element', can take a huge toll on Aussies, the associate professor of social work at La Trobe said.
'It's a very difficult time. Then, you have to contact people who've made bookings and let them know what's going on, it's a multi layered event,' Downey added. 'Unless something is done about root causes of climate change, we can expect increased severity and frequency of these types of devastating events.'
A GoFundMe page has been created to help provide the Weeroona Holiday Park with necessary supplies.
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