MP for Ballina, Tamara Smith has been receiving regular updates on the flooding situation in the Ballina and Byron Shire areas.
"I've been in close communications with SES Area Commander Kaylene Jones and I've spoken to our Ballina SES Controller Gerry Burnage and Byron SES Controller Mike Davison-Long for local updates. Yesterday I was in contact with the NSW Premier who visited Tweed and Lismore, which have been majorly affected. I am expecting to be given a briefing by the Minister for Emergency Services Troy Grant tomorrow."
"The Byron SES alone have done 200 rescues since Thursday and out of town support from the Blue Mountains SES and Campbeltown SES have made a huge difference to our on ground support - thank you so much to those volunteers who have come such a long way to help."
"The evacuation centre at Ocean Shores has had about 40 people there over the last few days. Residents at Billinudgel, New Brighton, lower lying areas of Ocean Shores, and nearby areas have experienced flooding."
Byron Shire Council has the following local flood help page for residents and they are providing extra rubbish collection services.
"The Ballina SES have had volunteers from Snowy River, Southern Highlands and the Hunter SESs. They wish to thank Ballina Shire Council staff, the Rural Fire Service staff, the Salvation Army, Red Cross and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) for their help and to particularly thank the residents of Cabbage Tree Island for their co-operation during their evacuation on Saturday."
For information on personal hardship and distress assistance, contact the Disaster Welfare Assistance Line on 1800 018 444.
To apply for a concessional loan, grant or freight subsidy, contact the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593 or visit raa.nsw.gov.au.
Further information on disaster assistance is available at disasterassist.gov.au and emergency.nsw.gov.au.
Landholders who need help with emergency support for their livestock, emergency fodder, stock water and other materials should contact North Coast Local Land Services on 1300 795 299.
The following contact numbers are also provided for those impacted by the current flood emergency:
- For all calls relating to property damage refer to SES (Flood & Storm Response) 132 500
- For financial assistance contact Department of Human Services (Centrelink) 132 850
- Emergency housing inquiries including temporary accommodation contact Department of Family and Community Services (Housing Centre) 1800 422 322
Telstra has announced an assistance pack for those affected by the weather in the past few days full details can be found at Telstra's website
Affected customers should call Telstra on 132 203 (then enter their full home phone including area code when prompted) to report a fault on their services and/ or to register for the assistance package offers.
Essential Energy advises:
Power has been restored to customers across the flood-affected areas in the Northern Rivers and Tweed Valley, however work continues on the ground with the inspection of customer’s switchboards to ensure electrical safety at all homes and businesses.
Inspections have been completed in Lismore and are continuing in Murwillumbah, Burringbar, Condong and Tumbulgum.
Our teams are attending to a number of single premise jobs and we expect work of this nature to continue over the next week.
We continue to stay in touch with customers and provide social media updates. Customers are also encouraged to call us on 132080 if they have questions or enquiries.