Hope in a curry box: Sikh volunteers drive 1,200km to feed flood-hit Australians
GHINNI GHINNI (Australia), May 27 — Farmer Mark Kappa was enjoying his first hot drink in three days as he waited patiently for his meal in front of a food truck run by a Sikh charity, after incessant rain in Australia's southeast cut off towns and forced thousands to evacuate their homes.
Melbourne-based Sikh Volunteers Australia travelled nearly 1,200 kilometres to the rural town of Taree in New South Wales, one of the worst-hit from last week's floods in Australia's most populous state, to set up their mobile kitchen in the parking area of a hardware store.
'They said about 20 minutes or so, I'll tuck in then,' Kappa said as the volunteers prepared pasta, rice and vegetarian curry.
More than 50,000 people in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, around 300 kilometres north of Sydney, were isolated last week after fast-rising waters burst river banks, destroyed homes and washed away roads.
Five deaths have been linked to the floods.
'We've had no power for three days out at the farm. We lost our milk. We lost everything,' Kappa said.
After serving almost 3,000 fresh meals over the last three days, Sikh Volunteers Australia head Jaswinder Singh said: 'In times of disasters, I've seen the spirit of the Australians come even better, closer to each other ... so that's a good thing. That has a very positive impact.'
Despite the small space available, the charity has been distributing food neatly packed in small boxes.
'To be able to know that you can turn up and just get some food is – it's just heart-warming,' said Ashari Hudson, who was picking up food for a friend hit by floods.
The Sikh volunteers have provided free food since 2017 during several crises, including bush fires and floods.
Australia has been hit with increasing extreme weather events that some experts say are the result of climate change. Following droughts and devastating bushfires at the end of last decade, frequent floods have wreaked havoc since early 2021. — Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
19 hours ago
- Malay Mail
FEMA 101: How America handles disasters, and why that's now in question
WASHINGTON, June 4 — Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after David Richardson, the head of the US disaster agency, said he had not been aware the country had a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation. President Donald Trump has suggested closing the agency and has previously established a review council for FEMA, whose resources are strained following multiple weather-related disasters. It has also been burdened by past failures in handling massive storms. What is FEMA? The federal agency's mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods. FEMA brings in emergency personnel, supplies and equipment to stricken areas. Its reputation was battered by its poor handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the agency has struggled to recover. Trump criticized FEMA on the campaign trail and since taking office, suggesting states should take on a greater role in disaster planning and response. FEMA has 10 regional offices and the capacity to coordinate resources from across the federal government. Officially created in 1979, it became part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2004. The agency is currently supporting 10 emergency declarations, according to its website. Trump criticism Trump has accused FEMA of bungling emergency relief efforts in North Carolina and said he preferred that states be given federal money to handle disasters themselves. 'FEMA has turned out to be a disaster,' he said during a tour in January of a North Carolina neighborhood destroyed by September's Hurricane Helene. 'I think we recommend that FEMA go away.' Trump also criticized California's response to January wildfires that devastated Los Angeles, but pledged to work with California Governor Gavin Newsom and offered help to LA Mayor Karen Bass. FEMA staffing Cam Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL Trump appointed to temporarily lead the agency after the Republican president took office, was fired last month, a day after he told lawmakers in a hearing that he did not support FEMA's closure. He was replaced by Richardson, who told staff he would 'run right over' anyone who resisted changes and that all decisions had to go through him. Soon after, FEMA announced the departure of 16 senior executives, a significant shakeup of its leadership ranks. Some 2,000 FEMA employees – or about a third of full-time staff – have been fired or accepted incentives to quit since Trump took office. FEMA says it maintains more than 4,000 reservists to deploy to disaster zones, in addition to thousands of surge capacity force members from other federal agencies who can be called on to help in the response if necessary. FEMA funding Funding for the agency has soared in recent years as extreme weather events boosted the need for its services. The agency received US$29 billion from Congress in December to fund ongoing relief efforts. A FEMA spokesperson told Reuters in January the agency had not received additional funding to reimburse states for ongoing recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina and the US Southeast in late September. In April, the Trump administration said FEMA had made more than US$2.2 billion in payments to a group of states over the past three weeks, after a judge blocked an earlier sweeping freeze of federal grants, loans and other financial aid. Richardson has said states would in the future bear half the costs for responding to natural disasters, up from 25 per cent under existing cost-sharing arrangements. Disinformation campaign While responding to real-life disasters, FEMA has also battled a slew of false rumors about how its funds have been used. Before his re-election, Trump and his Republican allies accused former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, of using federal emergency money to help people who were in the country illegally. US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene went as far as to say government officials controlled the weather. FEMA has been the target of so many falsehoods it has set up a rumor response page on its website. One entry addresses the accusation that FEMA diverted funds to the border.'This is false. No money is being diverted from disaster-response needs. FEMA's disaster-response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.' FEMA failures The agency has been criticized for emergency responses to hurricanes that fell short, including Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017. Residents accused Trump, who was then in his first term, of being slow to dispatch aid after Maria and clumsy in his public remarks once it was clear the US territory had been devastated. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and flooded parts of the city as residents crowded into ill-prepared shelters. Katrina devastated the Gulf of Mexico coast and caused more than 1,800 deaths. It also shattered the reputation of FEMA, which was sharply criticized for its response. — Reuters
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Malay Mail
Deadly floods sweep India's north-east; 34 killed, more rain forecast
BHUBANESWAR, June 2 — At least 34 people have died in India's north-eastern region after heavy floods caused landslides over the last four days, authorities and media said on Monday, and the weather department predicted more heavy rain. More than a thousand tourists trapped in the Himalayan state of Sikkim were being evacuated on Monday, a government statement said, and army rescue teams were pressed into service in Meghalaya state to rescue more than 500 people stranded in flooded areas. In neighbouring Bangladesh, at least four members of a family were killed in a landslide in the north-eastern district of Sylhet, while hundreds of shelters have been opened across the hilly districts of Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachhari on Sunday. Authorities have warned of further landslides and flash floods, urging residents in vulnerable areas to remain alert. India's north-east and Bangladesh are prone to torrential rains that set off deadly landslides and flash floods, affecting millions of people every year. Roads and houses in Assam's Silchar city were flooded, visuals from news agency ANI showed, and fallen trees littered the roads. 'We are facing a lot of challenges. I have a child, their bed is submerged in water. What will we do in such a situation? We keep ourselves awake throughout the night,' Sonu Devi, a resident of Silchar, told ANI. — Reuters
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
India's monsoon rains kill at least 30 in northeast
India's annual monsoon season brings widespread death and destruction every year. (AP pic) GUWAHATI : Flash floods and landslides after torrential monsoon rain over the last two days killed at least 30 people in India's northeast, officials said today. State disaster management officials said eight people died in Assam, and nine in Arunachal Pradesh, many of them in landslides as earth loosened by the water slumped into the valley below. Another five people died in a landslide in the neighbouring state of Mizoram, state authorities said. The officials said that six people lost their lives in Meghalaya and at least two others were killed in the states of Nagaland and Tripura. A red alert warning was issued for several districts in the region after the non-stop downpour over the last three days. Rivers swollen by the lashing rain – including the mighty Brahmaputra, which rises in the Himalayas and flows through India's northeast towards its delta in Bangladesh – broke their banks across the region. The Indian army said that it had saved hundreds 'in a massive rescue operation' across Manipur state. 'People have been shifted to safer places', the army said yesterday. 'Food, water and essential medicines were provided.' Conrad K Sangma, the chief minister of Meghalaya state, has ordered officials to remain on high alert 'especially in landslide-prone and low-lying areas', he said in a statement. Scores of people die each year during the rainy season due to flash floods and landslides across India, a country of 1.4 billion people. India's annual monsoon season from June to September offers respite from the intense summer heat and is crucial for replenishing water supplies, but also brings widespread death and destruction. South Asia is getting hotter and in recent years has seen shifting weather patterns, but scientists are unclear on how exactly a warming planet is affecting monsoons. Last month, India's financial capital Mumbai was swamped by monsoon rain that began two weeks earlier than usual, the earliest for nearly a quarter of a century, according to weather forecasters.
