Families still struggling to rebuild after devastating floods

Daily Telegraph

6 days ago

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More than 10 days after floods swept through the state, devastating towns and communities, families are still struggling to rebuild their lives.
Taree beef cattle farmer Christine George, 58, sits out the front of her parents' home and looks across ravaged paddocks. Her father died only four weeks ago, leaving her alone with her elderly mother to fix kilometres of ruined fencing.
Inside the house, Ms George has spent days washing away filthy sludge before it dries to the walls and floors after the floodwaters rose all the way up to the roof gutters.
'It's a really fine balance at the moment for people to survive,' she said.
'I went through the 2021 floods and we seemed to get a lot of help, a lot more help than we've had this time, and this time was so much worse.'
Financial relief is starting to trickle in but there's a long way to go. Hundreds of homes have slipped under the radar and have not yet been able to access assistance payments, while others struggle to get food on the table as the clean-up costs pile up.
Sue Allport and her family were rescued by helicopter and rescue boats from their property in Taree. Picture Thomas Lisson
As part of our News in the Community program, The Sunday and Daily Telegraphs are donating $50,000 to Foodbank to support the flood affected regions through our Emergency Relief Fund.
Foodbank chief executive officer John Robertson said the donation will help ensure flood-affected communities don't have to worry about their next meal.
'(Our people on the ground) are telling us just how devastating it is, and the fact that so many people couldn't afford insurance, they've lost everything. Access to food is just one less thing they've got to worry about,' Mr Robertson said. 'This will make a real difference in our ability to get this food to people who need it in those areas.'
James Dunbier had been rescued from his cattle farm in Moto near Taree. The floods caused widespread damage his property. Picture Thomas Lisson
News Corp Community Ambassador Penny Fowler said News Corp Australia was delighted to help.
'We know Foodbank really helps to deliver essential food and supplies and we want to help support these NSW communities,' Ms Fowler said.
Sunday Telegraph editor Anna Caldwell said the stories reporters brought back from the flood zones were harrowing. 'We knew we needed to contribute and we will continue to support the recovery with our coverage,' she said.
The government has received more than 4780 applications for personal hardship assistance, one-off payments valued at $180 for individuals and up to $900 per household,
Almost 12,000 damage assessments have been conducted following 805 flood rescues, 8700 incidents and more than 400 resupply missions to isolated communities.
Federal disaster recovery allowances and payments have also opened but NSW Premier Chris Minns said it will take some time for substantial grants to be made available for farms and businesses.
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