By Jonty Ralphsmith
Five Narre Warren SES members have been deployed to assist flood-affected communities in Northern NSW and Southern Queensland
The members will assist in community engagement from Tuesday 8 March until Saturday 12 March, entering the region at Coolangatta, Queensland before being transferred to Ballina, NSW where they may then be transported elsewhere.
Needing to preserve the few liveable houses available for the residents, the SES members will be setup in army-style accommodation, completing 12-hour shifts and given four hours of down-time, alongside their eight hours of sleeping.
Narre Warren SES unit controller Damian Burns emphasised the damage that floods do to affected towns.
“Even though the houses are still standing, they can’t be lived in,” Mr Burns said.
“The infrastructure we take for granted goes underwater and electronics are largely destroyed and the flood water contaminates the fresh water.”
It is common for SES crews to be deployed across the country during times of crisis.
“We’re here for the whole of Victoria and Australia,” Mr Burns said.
Mr Burns also thanked the people around the crew members deployed for their support.
“We are so grateful that employers will release employees to do humanitarian work,” Mr Burns said.
“We see employers that do that as standing with us in serving the people of Australia.
“Those employers deserve a lot of praise and so do the families who will be without dads or husbands or wives for five days because they are helping out.”
The five members have gone up in the second band of Victorian SES crews and the crews will continue to be replaced as they fatigue.
