Thursday, 18 April 2024

Flood recovery

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (10:23): At the civic reception in Echuca last night I was speaking to several CFA volunteers who assisted during the 2022 floods, and one said that different brigades in different towns had become more like a family because they had supported each other during the floods. I recently met with residents of Huntly who have been impacted by the floods and witnessed people who live near each other meet for the very first time. Through their common experience they found connection, exchanged phone numbers and offered each other support.

It can be hard to find any bright side following a natural disaster like a flood when you have lost your home and your belongings and your kids keep asking when they will be back in their own bedroom again. Flooding can divide neighbours, but as I have met people impacted by floods across northern Victoria, I have seen neighbours, communities and towns come closer together. The silos that often keep people apart start to break down as people go out of their way to help one another.

It has been over 18 months since the floods, and unfortunately silos still exist when it comes to an all-agency response, especially between government authorities. Emergency radio broadcaster KLFM in Bendigo has raised concerns that the Emergency Management Victoria database stores information entered by emergency organisations like the CFA, VicRoads, SES, Victoria Police and others and that permission is still needed for the collected information to be disseminated to authorised organisations, such as local councils and health organisations. When it comes to flood data, we need accurate local data to inform decision-making. It is important to break down the silos and provide greater transparency between different agencies and authorities.